Team: 1
School: Cleveland High
Area of Science: Environmental Sciences
Proposal: Air pollution is a leading cause of premature deaths, responsible for about 5 million deaths annually worldwide due to lung cancer, heart disease, respiratory diseases, and more. One of these harmful pollutants includes ozone (O3). In the troposphere, ozone is a critical pollutant created when nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds (both manmade pollutants) chemically react with sunlight. This “bad†ozone is the main component of photochemical smog and causes a plethora of health and environmental issues.
In order to effectively reduce the amount of harmful tropospheric ozone, the ratio of precursor chemicals (NOx to VOCs) can be used in order to determine which is the limiting factor that should be decreased. However with limited ground measurement stations, this amount cannot be known for the majority of the surface of the Earth.
This project uses data from NASA’s Ozone Monitoring Instrument aboard the Aura satellite to determine the tropospheric column ratio of nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde (a VOC).
Satellite data will be validated with ground observations as well as the chemical transport model GEOS-Chem focused on Delhi, India, and quality filters, cloud masks, and other algorithms will be applied as necessary. This project will also investigate possible causes for increases in tropospheric ozone despite decreases in precursors, such as in Northern China following COVID-19 lockdowns.
By determining the limiting factors of ozone with satellite data, regions that would benefit most from decreasing specific pollutants can be identified, allowing for effective legislation to immediately decrease harmful tropospheric ozone levels.
Mentor: Mark Petersen
Team Members:
Sponsoring Teacher: Ashli Knoell