Extensive regional atmospheric hydrocarbon pollution in the southwestern United States

Katzenstein, Aaron S.; Doezema, Lambert A.; Simpson, Isobel J.; Blake, Donald R.; Rowland, F. S.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1635258100

Cited by 132 publications

(145 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

139

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…With the increase in unconventional oil and natural gas has come an increase in fugitive emissions of hydrocarbons to the atmosphere in quantities great enough to influence local-and regional-scale ozone production (Katzenstein et al, 2003;Kemball-Cook et al, 2010;Edwards et al, 2014 (Schnell et al, 2009). In situ measurements revealed that the high wintertime ozone levels were due to a strong temperature inversion that trapped NO x and hydrocarbon emissions from the natural gas industry.…”

Section: Unconventional Oil and Natural Gas Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tropospheric ozone and its precursors from the urban to the global scale from air quality to short-lived climate forcer

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Ozone holds a certain fascination in atmospheric science. It is ubiquitous in the atmosphere, central to tropospheric oxidation chemistry, yet harmful to human and ecosystem health as well as being an important greenhouse gas. It is not emitted into the atmosphere but is a byproduct of the very oxidation chemistry it largely initiates. Much effort is focused on the reduction of surface levels of ozone owing to its health and vegetation impacts, but recent efforts to achieve reductions in exposure at a country scale have proved difficult to achieve owing to increases in background ozone at the zonal hemispheric scale. There is also a growing realisation that the role of ozone as a short-lived climate pollutant could be important in integrated air quality climate change mitigation. This review examines current understanding of the processes regulating tropospheric ozone at global to local scales from both measurements and models. It takes the view that knowledge across the scales is important for dealing with air quality and climate change in a synergistic manner. The review shows that there remain a number of clear challenges for ozone such as explaining surface trends, incorporating new chemical understanding, ozone-climate coupling, and a better assessment of impacts. There is a clear and present need to treat ozone across the range of scales, a transboundary issue, but with an emphasis on the hemispheric scales. New observational opportunities are offered both by satellites and small sensors that bridge the scales.

show abstract

Section: Unconventional Oil and Natural Gas Productionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tropospheric ozone and its precursors from the urban to the global scale from air quality to short-lived climate forcer

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Katzenstein et al (2003) reported elevated alkane concentrations in air samples collected at the surface in the southwestern US and attributed them to the oil and NG operations in the region. The authors also measured alkyl nitrate species, indicating enhanced photochemistry in the presence of VOC emissions and NO x .…”

Section: R Ahmadov Et Al: Understanding High Wintertime Ozone Pollumentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kemball-Cook et al (2010) modeled the impact of the Haynesville Shale development on ambient O 3 levels in Texas and Louisiana. Their photochemical modeling of the year 2012 showed increases in 8 h average ozone values of up to 5 ppb within northeastern Texas and northwestern Louisiana resulting from development in the Haynesville Shale.…”

Section: R Ahmadov Et Al: Understanding High Wintertime Ozone Pollumentioning

confidence: 99%

Understanding high wintertime ozone pollution events in an oil- and natural gas-producing region of the western US

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Recent increases in oil and natural gas (NG) production throughout the western US have come with scientific and public interest in emission rates, air quality and climate impacts related to this industry. This study uses a regionalscale air quality model (WRF-Chem) to simulate high ozone (O 3 ) episodes during the winter of 2013 over the Uinta Basin (UB) in northeastern Utah, which is densely populated by thousands of oil and NG wells. The high-resolution meteorological simulations are able qualitatively to reproduce the wintertime cold pool conditions that occurred in 2013, allowing the model to reproduce the observed multi-day buildup of atmospheric pollutants and the accompanying rapid photochemical ozone formation in the UB.Two different emission scenarios for the oil and NG sector were employed in this study. The first emission scenario (bottom-up) was based on the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Emission Inventory (NEI) (2011, version 1) for the oil and NG sector for the UB. The second emission scenario (top-down) was based on estimates of methane (CH 4 ) emissions derived from in situ aircraft measurements and a regression analysis for multiple species relative to CH 4 concentration measurements in the UB. Evaluation of the model results shows greater underestimates of CH 4 and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the simulation with the NEI-2011 inventory than in the case when the top-down emission scenario was used. Unlike VOCs, the NEI-2011 inventory significantly overestimates the emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO x ), while the topdown emission scenario results in a moderate negative bias. The model simulation using the top-down emission case captures the buildup and afternoon peaks observed during high O 3 episodes. In contrast, the simulation using the bottomup inventory is not able to reproduce any of the observed high O 3 concentrations in the UB. Simple emission reduction scenarios show that O 3 production is VOC sensitive and NO x insensitive within the UB. The model results show a disproportionate contribution of aromatic VOCs to O 3 formation relative to all other VOC emissions. The model analysis reveals that the major factors driving high wintertime O 3 in the UB are shallow boundary layers with light winds, high emissions of VOCs from oil and NG operations compared to NO x emissions, enhancement of photolysis fluxes and reduction of O 3 loss from deposition due to snow cover.

show abstract

“…The inflow of such emissions to Boulder, Colorado, has been suggested as the large, unidentified propane source that is important in that urban area [Goldan et al, 1995]. Katzenstein et al [2003] have shown the widespread influence of such emissions in the southwestern United States. These data fall on the trend line in Figure A3a, but appear at somewhat lower alkane to ethane ratios than the average source ratios.…”

Section: Appendix A: Photochemical Aging Pattern Of Alkanesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the photochemical environment of the temperate North Pacific troposphere in response to increased Asian emissions

et al. 2004

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

[1] Measurements during the Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation 2002 (ITCT 2K2) field study characterized the springtime, eastern Pacific ozone distribution at two ground sites, from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration WP-3D aircraft, and from a light aircraft operated by the University of Washington. D. Jaffe and colleagues compared the 2002 ozone distribution with measurements made in the region over the two previous decades and show that average ozone levels over the eastern midlatitude Pacific have systematically increased by $10 ppbv in the last two decades. Here we provide substantial evidence that a marked change in the photochemical environment in the springtime troposphere of the North Pacific is responsible for this increased O 3 . This change is evidenced in the eastern North Pacific ITCT 2K2 study region by (1) larger increases in the minimum observed ozone levels compared to more modest increases in the maximum levels, (2) increased peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) levels that parallel trends in NO x emissions, and (3) decreased efficiency of photochemical O 3 destruction, i.e., less negative O 3 photochemical tendency (or net rate of O 3 photochemical production; P(O 3 )). This changed photochemical environment is hypothesized to be due to anthropogenic emissions from Asia, which are believed to have substantially increased over the two decades preceding the study. We propose that their influence has changed the springtime Pacific tropospheric photochemistry from predominately ozone destroying to more nearly ozone producing. However, chemical transport model calculations indicate the possible influence of a confounding factor; unusual transport of tropical air to the western North Pacific during one early field study may have played a role in this apparent change in the photochemistry.

show abstract

Extensive regional atmospheric hydrocarbon pollution in the southwestern United States

Cited by 132 publications

References 14 publications

Tropospheric ozone and its precursors from the urban to the global scale from air quality to short-lived climate forcer

Tropospheric ozone and its precursors from the urban to the global scale from air quality to short-lived climate forcer

Understanding high wintertime ozone pollution events in an oil- and natural gas-producing region of the western US

Changes in the photochemical environment of the temperate North Pacific troposphere in response to increased Asian emissions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About