Roy Harrison, a researcher and professor at the University of Birmingham, UK, recently conducted a study to review the reductions in PM 2.5 and NO2 levels that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns over 11 cities. Harrison applied machine learning techniques to remove the effects of weather on the gaseous concentrations to see how the air quality had truly changed due to the lockdowns. 

By Susan O’Neill and Sean Raffuse

Originally posted in EOS on 26 February 2021: https://eos.org/science-updates/advances-in-satellite-data-for-wildfire-smoke-forecasting 

Department Description

Department Description

Over 111 million metric tons of CO2 were emitted by wildfires in California for the 2020 year. The transportation sector is the only area to have emitted more carbon dioxide at over 169 million metric tons. While from the outset, that looks pretty bad, you may still wonder, "In actuality, how bad is the wildfire smoke for Climate Change?"

In an interview with the SF Chronical, AQRC Director, Tony Wexler, stated that the wildfire carbon emissions are of almost no concern for him in relation to climate change.

The UC Davis Air Quality Research Center (AQRC) is a growing interdisciplinary Organized Research Unit (ORU). Its mission is to facilitate research on the scientific, engineering, health, social, and economic aspects of gaseous and particulate atmospheric pollutants.

A postdoctoral position is available in the area of multivariate analysis of FT-IR spectra of atmospheric particulate matter (PM).   The FT-IR Laboratory in the Air Quality Research Center (AQRC) at UC Davis uses mid-infrared spectra and multivariate calibration models to predict the composition of filter-based PM samples in U.S.

A recent report conducted by researchers with support from the Air Quality Research Center Director, Anthony Wexler, demonstrated that N95 and surgical masks did reduce the amount of aerosolized particles emitted while speaking and breathing. However, they found that the fabric of the face coverings released a large number of fibers into the air. This accentuates the importance of washing them frequently. This recent study tested the different face masks most commonly used and the amount of outward transmission of particles there was. 

NOAA/NASA's Suomi NPP Satellite captured the above image of both aerosols traveling the US and hurricanes heading towards the US. Read their full write up of the image posted on September 15, 2020 below.

NOAA/NASA