University of Oklahoma professor Chenghao Wang has received three years of funding through NASA’s Earth Science programme to study the rising issue of ozone pollution.
Wang will use the funding to focus on compound heat and ozone pollution episodes in urban environments.
NASA’s Earth Science programme supports outstanding scientific research and the career development of scientists and engineers in the early stages of their professional careers.
Ozone pollution is seriously impacting urban areas
Heat waves and air pollution are two increasingly occurring challenges that disproportionately impact urban areas.
When multiple stressor events happen simultaneously, these compound events can have more significant impacts than isolated events.
According to Wang, one-third of Americans are exposed to unhealthy levels of ozone pollution, which can irritate the airways, worsen existing respiratory issues and, upon repeated exposure, cause permanent lung damage.
Ground-level ozone is a secondary pollutant formed through chemical reactions between nonorganic pollutant sources such as transportation and industries and sources such as wildfires.
The dynamics of various emission sources and meteorological conditions mainly affect the concentration and distribution of ground-level ozone pollution.
Discovering why ground-level ozone occurs
Wang said a motivation for this project is the lack of understanding about the contributions of urban processes to these compound events.
Through this project, he will study the dynamics of these compound events across various urban areas to identify the impact of ozone pollution on urban landscapes.
Collaborating with Dr Xiao-Ming Hu, a senior research scientist in OU’s Center for Analysis and Prediction of Storms and adjunct associate professor in the School of Meteorology, he will use the weather research and forecasting model coupled with chemistry to set up ideal model runs to isolate the contributions of individual urban factors.
“This will help us to start understanding which factors are playing important roles in different cities with different urban processes and background climates,” Wang said.
How effective are nature-based solutions?
The study will also work to understand the efficacy of nature-based mitigation strategies on ozone pollution.
Nature-based solutions, such as green spaces or increasing the number of trees in a given location, are considered promising approaches to reducing heat stress and particulate air pollution in urban areas.
However, a better understanding of their effectiveness is still needed.
Additionally, while nature-based solutions can cool down the environment, they can emit volatile organic compounds, which can react with nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere and increase ozone concentrations.
Wang explained: “Nature-based solutions offer both co-benefits and potential trade-offs during compound heat and air pollution events, and we need to start considering the trade-offs when we introduce nature-based solutions as mitigation measures in cities.”
Ideally, he says the results of this work will help inform policymakers and urban planners to develop strategies, particularly nature-based strategies, for reducing ozone pollution exposure and protecting urban communities.
