Air Quality Analysis Considering Mobile and Aviation Sources and Monitoring using Remote Sensing Tunable Laser Technology

This paper presents some of the results of an on-going air quality project that was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). Nitrogen dioxide is one of the primary precursors of ozone that creates smog and it is a major health hazard for people with respiratory problems. The DOT air quality analysis project has used real-time in situ remote sensing tunable laser measurements of air pollutants to evaluate air quality impact of transportation systems. Higher nitrogen dioxide concentration is associated with higher traffic levels and higher air temperatures in daytime measurement. Example applications of an improved air quality model that has been developed to predict air pollutant concentrations of tropospheric ozone, as affected by mobile vehicular traffic and aviation sources are presented.