USDA - NASA Workshop

Air Quality Focus Area

March 4-5, 2003

“AG and AQ”

Agriculture and Air Quality: Two Views

- Agricultural contributions to Air Quality

- Air Quality effects on Agricultural productivity

USDA concern for air quality relates to:

- Regulatory environment (incl. Clean Air Act & Wilderness Act) - Human, livestock, and ecosystem health

- Agricultural yield and production

- Forest and rangeland management

- Protection of Class I areas

- Transboundary & Intercontinental Transport of Pollution

“AG and AQ”

USDA concern for air quality relates to:

- Regulatory environment (incl. Clean Air Act & Wilderness Act) - Human, livestock, and ecosystem health

- Agricultural yield and production

- Forest and rangeland management

- Protection of Class I areas

- Transboundary & Intercontinental Transport of Pollution

With improved data and models (at scale necessary – down to 1 acre):

USDA can improve the recommendations it makes to the farming

& resource management community.

Policy and Management

Primary USDA AQ management issues:

What is agriculture’s contribution to ambient levels of National Ambient Air Quality Standards

- NAAQS set by EPA

- USDA support to farmers on compliance

How can agriculture quantify the effectiveness of conservation practice standards and other abatement strategies?

How does Air Pollution effect Class I areas?

USDA Policy & Program Needs

Aerosols

- PM 10 and 2.5, precursors (NH3), visibility

Ozone

- including VOCs, NOx

  Greenhouse Gases (GHGs)

  Odor

Impact on agriculture and forestry

- secondary immediacy

- primary immediacy for Class I areas

State of Research - Aerosol

USDA: Understands control & management of PM relative to wind transport (research continuing)

Modeling of PM10 from fields in tons/1K feet of field boundary

Measurement/Modeling of area and select point sources (fires, ginning, ag fields)

Emissions factors for smoke & best practices for smoke management; USFS modeling of smoke

 NASA: Global/regional/local spatial distribution (25-40 km)

Vertical distribution w/in 150m

More intense the plume, the easier to characterize

Fire detection - MODIS products (on going with USFS)

Models: Global - to ½ degree (e.g GEOS)Meso/Regional - to 1km (e.g. MM5)Local - <1 km (other agencies - DOE, NOAA)

Missions/Sensors: MODIS & MISR

June 23 June 24

June 25 June 26

MODIS Sensor aboard theTerra SatelliteCaptures a PMTransport Eventin June 2002.High Aerosol Optical Depthover upper mid-West movesEast, then out to the AtlanticOcean.

Initial Analysis of MODIS AOD data for Air Quality Applications related to PM2.5 in the US

PM25 24 hr. average

Source: LaRC/USEPA Air Quality Applications Group

Time Series Analysis of EPA hourly PM2.5 Concentrations (Surface Monitor) and Aerosol Optical Depth in Coincident MODIS pixel

• NASA MODIS AOD can provide the pseudo-synoptic view of aerosol events in near-real-time across North America unlike any other measurement.

• NASA and EPA are working together to evaluate and prototype an integrated near-real-time product using MODIS AOD and hourly PM2.5 TEOM measurements

2002 - MODIS Satellite Sensor captures formation and transport of PM event Sept. 8 through 13

Aerosol Optical Depth

September 13, 2002-plume transported from Great Lakes region results

in elevated PM2.5 levels in Houston AQI exceeds 100 for 3 days

Source: LaRC/USEPA Air Quality Applications Group

State of Research - Ozone

USDA: Understand plant responses to ozone

Emission factors - limited to off-road engines; Understands basic soil biological processes of nitrogen gasesOperate UV-B networks – correlate with TOMS ozoneField networks using passive/active ozone monitorsUnderstand interactions between ozone and CO2 fertilization

 NASA: Observe/model the large scale patterns

Satellites can observe soil NOx in agricultural belts- Not to individual agricultural areas/practices

Underestimation between measurement and models on NOx Limited information available regarding the boundary layer. Identification/documentation of major/catastrophic events

- e.g. long range transport of dust and biomass burningExpected near term capabilities: daily retrievals at 25 km

 Missions/Sensors:TOMS GOME & Schiamacy (European – support proof of concept)Aura (OMI / TES) – Launch in 2004

ENHANCED NO2 OVER MIDWEST DURING JULY INDICATIVE OF SOIL NOX EMISSIONS

GOME Tropospheric NO2 Columns

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NOxMODELS and OBSERVATIONS

Martin et al., 2003Martin et al., 2003

DETERMINE NOX AND VOC EMISSIONS AT HIGHER RESOLUTION Higher resolution enables more accurate retrieval

Gaps in Knowledge & Research

Aerosols

• USDA needs aerosols at <1km resolution.

• Need particle size distribution and source speciation

– significant improvements expected 2006/2007)

• Develop/maintain consistent observations over same geographic regions to observe trends (multiple obs. over many years)

• NH3 emission factors

– with daily and climatic variations at local/regional levels

– NASA can provide ¼ to ½ degree to support modeling regional/local efforts

• Improved dispersion models developed or adapted for agricultural purposes

– NASA models down to ground level

– USDA can approach other agencies (NOAA, DOE) to go to ground level

– NASA can contribute better weather data to the models

• Emission factors & source strength of ag/forestry activities and their validation

• Characterization of speciation/distribution relative to animal feeding operations as sources

• Information needed on Class I area impacts

Gaps in Knowledge & Research

Ozone

• VOC emissions for agriculture not completely understood

• Higher resolution of ozone profiles needed

- 3-D spatial and temporal

- Need at least 2 points in and out of boundary layer

• Ground-based upward-looking instrument/network

- for CO2, CH4, CO, HCHO, O3

• Ozone environment and UV-B climatology

Collaborative Efforts

Aerosols• Boundary conditions to models

- NASA help define boundary conditions

- Initial conditions and transport regimes (e.g. airsheds)

PM potential emissions inventory

- NASA aerosol distributions coupled with

- USDA datasets (soils, land-cover, management practices)

• Ground measurement of soil moisture

- USDA - SCAN and others

- NASA - satellite measurement (GWEX)

• Earth Science inputs to agricultural air quality models

- evapotranspiration, surface heat flux, weather, etc.

·       Earth science inputs to smoke management plans & activities

·       Earth science inputs to regional haze

·       Above ground biomass (3-D) as input to modeling

Inverse modeling and dispersion modeling

Collaborative Efforts

Ozone

• Connect Ground and Air/Spaceborne sensors

- USDA UV-B networks & NASA TOMS/Ozone/NOx activities

• Emissions inventories & boundary conditions

- NASA help define for models (satellite and airborne)

• Field Campaigns

- Add USDA role to NASA’s North American Field Campaign for Air Quality and greenhouse gases

- NASA technical expertise and instruments

- USDA field personnel

- Instruments and sensors, such as ozone-sondes

• Airborne system for small scale process studies

- especially exploiting LIDAR

·       Ozone impacts to Class I areas

Inverse modeling and dispersion modeling

Platform multiple ERS-2 Terra ENVISAT Space station

Aura TBD TBD

Sensor TOMS AVHRR/SeaWIFS

GOME MOPITT MODIS/MISR

SCIAMACHY

MIPAS SAGE-3 TES OMI MLS CALIPSO OCO

Launch 1979 1995 1999 1999 2002 2002 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2005

O3N N/L L L N/L N L

CO N N/L L N/L

CO2N/L N

NO L

NO2N N/L N

HNO3L L

CH4N/L N

HCHO N N/L N

SO2N N/L N

BrO N N/L N

HCN L

aerosol N N N N L N N

PRESENT AND FUTURE SATELLITE OBSERVATIONS OF TROPOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY

Increasing spatial resolution

Summary

USDA immediate interest is to help farmers & resource managers respond to air quality regulations and quantify agricultural contribution to air quality/pollution

Gaps in satellite’s ability to observe emissions from individual agricultural activities from space. Potential to observe with airborne assets & improve emissions inventories needed for models

There are significant differences in temporal and spatial resolutions needed and available from observations and model outputs.

  By and large, NASA approaches air quality issues from above (air/space)

while USDA approaches the issues from the ground

Connection with EPA on Air Quality models is necessary- NASA and EPA already collaborating on data & models

Significant opportunities for collaboration, such as USDA providing ground-truthing to air quality models and airborne/space data