Researcher receives NASA funding to study ozone pollution

(Press-News.org) NORMAN, OKLA. – University of Oklahoma professor Chenghao Wang has received three years of funding through the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Early Career Investigator Program in Earth Science. Wang, an assistant professor in both the OU School of Meteorology and the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability, will study compound heat and ozone pollution episodes in urban environments.

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 concentration and distribution of ground-level ozone are mainly affected by the dynamics of various emission sources and meteorological conditions.

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, Wang will study the dynamics of these compound events across various urban areas to identify the impact of 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,” said Wang.

On top of developing a better understanding of compound events from a data- and model-driven perspective, Wang will also work to quantify the efficacy of nature-based mitigation strategies. 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, there still needs to be a greater understanding of the effectiveness of these solutions.

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.

“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,” said Wang.

Ideally, he says the results of this work will help inform policymakers and urban planners to develop strategies, particularly nature-based strategies, for reducing heat and pollution exposure and protecting urban communities.

NASA’s Early Career Investigator Program in Earth Science supports outstanding scientific research and the career development of scientists and engineers in the early stages of their professional careers.

Learn more about Wang’s research and his Sustainable Urban Futures Lab at https://link.ou.edu/surf-lab.

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