This is a competitive contract solicitation to support the California Air Resources Board (CARB or Board) research priorities for fiscal year 2021-2022. CARB staff will hold a Pre-Application Workshop on April 8, 2021 for this and related projects. CARB is encouraging proposers to form multidisciplinary teams to fulfill contract requirements. Principle Investigators (PIs) must be affiliated with University of California and California State Universities, however, CARB encourages PIs to recruit non-academic research partners and diversify research efforts and talent.
Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations often exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in many parts of California. CARB conducts regional air quality modeling to understand the spatial and temporal variabilities of PM2.5 composition in the regulatory decision-making process. The model outputs are evaluated using limited ground-level air quality monitoring data that primarily describes the air quality over populated urban centers. Recent advancement in satellite remote sensing technology and data processing algorithms have demonstrated their ability in describing surface-level air quality at the relatively high spatial resolution, providing opportunities for the regional air quality models to be evaluated using an independent dataset. Taking advantage of such data resources is valuable for building additional confidence in the spatial and temporal representativeness of the regional air quality models where ground-level air quality monitoring data is lacking.
The objectives of this project are to (1) quantify California’s local and regional PM2.5 composition (e.g. nitrate, sulfate, organic carbon, elemental carbon, and dust) using satellite remote sensing data collected over the last two decades, (2) track the long-term progress of PM2.5 reductions in regions underrepresented by ground-level air quality monitors and evaluate the spatial disparities in these regions, and (3) recommend pathways that refine existing PM2.5 mitigation strategies with considerations for social equity. The project will estimate daily ambient concentrations of each PM2.5 composition using satellite remote sensing data from Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) operated by NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). Furthermore, the project will incorporate the regional air quality modeling to impute ambient concentrations that are missing due to unavailable satellite data on cloudy days. The project will deliver both finalized satellite data products (i.e., PM2.5 composition) and a tool that can be used by CARB staff to further process the MISR data. The project will also process the data just beyond California’s borders to understand the influence of interregional air pollution transport and its influences on California’s local and regional air quality.
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