Coupled air quality and boundary-layer meteorology in Western U.S. basins during winter: Design and rationale for a comprehensive study

Wintertime episodes of high aerosol concentrations occur frequently in urban and agricultural basins and valleys worldwide. These episodes often arise following development of persistent cold-air pools (PCAPs) that limit mixing and modify chemistry. While field campaigns targeting either basin meteorology or wintertime pollution chemistry have been conducted, coupling between interconnected chemical and meteorological processes remains an insufficiently studied research area. Gaps in understanding the coupled chemical–meteorological interactions that drive high-pollution events make identification of the most effective air-basin specific emission control strategies challenging. To address this, a September 2019 workshop occurred with the goal of planning a future research campaign to investigate air quality in western U.S. basins. Approximately 120 people participated, representing 50 institutions and five countries. Workshop participants outlined the rationale and design for a comprehensive wintertime study that would couple atmospheric chemistry and boundary layer and complex-terrain meteorology within western U.S. basins. Participants concluded the study should focus on two regions with contrasting aerosol chemistry: three populated valleys within Utah (Salt Lake, Utah, and Cache Valleys) and the San Joaquin Valley in California. This paper describes the scientific rationale for a campaign that will acquire chemical and meteorological datasets using airborne platforms with extensive range, coupled to surface-based measurements focusing on sampling within the near-surface boundary layer, and transport and mixing processes within this layer, with high vertical resolution at a number of representative sites. No prior wintertime basin-focused campaign has provided the breadth of observations necessary to characterize the meteorological–chemical linkages outlined here, nor to validate complex processes within coupled atmosphere–chemistry models.

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • opensky@ucar.edu
    UCAR/NCAR - Library

Resource Type publication
Temporal Range Begin N/A
Temporal Range End N/A
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links N/A
Additional Information N/A
Resource Format PDF
Standardized Resource Format PDF
Asset Size N/A
Legal Constraints

Copyright 2021 American Meteorological Society (AMS).
Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email opensky@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library
Distributor N/A
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email opensky@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library

Author Hallar, A. Gannet
Brown, Steven S.
Crosman, Erik
Barsanti, Kelley C.
Cappa, Christopher D.
Faloona, Ian
Fast, Jerome
Holmes, Heather A.
Horel, John
Lin, John
Middlebrook, Ann
Mitchell, Logan
Murphy, Jennifer
Womack, Caroline C.
Aneja, Viney
Baasandorj, Munkhbayar
Bahreini, Roya
Banta, Robert
Bray, Casey
Brewer, Alan
Caulton, Dana
de Gouw, Joost
De Wekker, Stephan F.J.
Farmer, Delphine K.
Gaston, Cassandra J.
Hoch, Sebastian
Hopkins, Francesca
Karle, Nakul N.
Kelly, James T.
Kelly, Kerry
Lareau, Neil
Lu, Keding
Mauldin, Roy L.
Mallia, Derek V.
Martin, Randal
Mendoza, Daniel L.
Oldroyd, Holly J.
Pichugina, Yelena
Pratt, Kerri A.
Saide, Pablo E.
Silva, Philip J.
Simpson, William
Stephens, Britton B.
Stutz, Jochen
Sullivan, Amy
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2021-10-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2023-08-18T18:33:22.691258
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:24799
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Hallar, A. Gannet, Brown, Steven S., Crosman, Erik, Barsanti, Kelley C., Cappa, Christopher D., Faloona, Ian, Fast, Jerome, Holmes, Heather A., Horel, John, Lin, John, Middlebrook, Ann, Mitchell, Logan, Murphy, Jennifer, Womack, Caroline C., Aneja, Viney, Baasandorj, Munkhbayar, Bahreini, Roya, Banta, Robert, Bray, Casey, Brewer, Alan, Caulton, Dana, de Gouw, Joost, De Wekker, Stephan F.J., Farmer, Delphine K., Gaston, Cassandra J., Hoch, Sebastian, Hopkins, Francesca, Karle, Nakul N., Kelly, James T., Kelly, Kerry, Lareau, Neil, Lu, Keding, Mauldin, Roy L., Mallia, Derek V., Martin, Randal, Mendoza, Daniel L., Oldroyd, Holly J., Pichugina, Yelena, Pratt, Kerri A., Saide, Pablo E., Silva, Philip J., Simpson, William, Stephens, Britton B., Stutz, Jochen, Sullivan, Amy. (2021). Coupled air quality and boundary-layer meteorology in Western U.S. basins during winter: Design and rationale for a comprehensive study. UCAR/NCAR - Library. http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d74171jz. Accessed 15 March 2025.

Harvest Source