Air Quality and Health

Manhattan skyline obscured by orange wildfire smoke, June 2023Air Quality and Health

PM2.5 is the main air pollutant affecting health worldwide. We combine satellite retrievals and chemical transport modeling to improve its prediction and evaluate how wildfire smoke shapes compliance with U.S. standards.

Here, we integrate atmospheric model development and analysis of ground-based and satellite observations to understand the drivers of air quality exceedances and uncertainties in policy-relevant PM2.5 predictions. Our work helps inform policy to protect public health.

See below for some of our recent work in this area:

Maps of wildfire contribution to annual PM2.5 in exceedance grid cells for local 2021 and Canadian 2023 wildfiresMaps of wildfire contribution to annual PM2.5 in exceedance grid cells for local 2021 and Canadian 2023 wildfires (enlarged)

Wildfire Smoke Challenges Attainment of the Strengthened U.S. Annual PM2.5 Standard through Regional and Transboundary Contributions [DOI]
Modelled PM2.5 compared with EPA observations across emission inventory and secondary organic aerosol configurationsModelled PM2.5 compared with EPA observations across emission inventory and secondary organic aerosol configurations (enlarged)

Influence of emission inventories and secondary organic aerosol chemistry on simulated fine particulate matter over the U.S. in a chemical transport model [DOI]

Hover over a figure to enlarge it.