ON A WINDY KNOLL AT U-N-H'S THOMPSON FARM IN DURHAM RISES A 40-FOOT TOWER. AT ITS BASE IS A SMALL WHITE TRAILER. THE TOWER IS MADE FROM THE SAME KIND OF STEEL SCAFFOLDING YOU'D FINE AT ANY CONSTRUCTION SITE. IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE MUCH. BUT IT IS, IN FACT, THE MOST SOPHISTICATED AIR MONITORING STATION IN THE WORLD.
[TAPE: SFX 174-178 – CLIMBING STAIRS]
THE STAIRS TO GET TO THE TOP, HOWEVER, ARE A BIT SHAKY.
TAPE CARPENTER 164 it does become a challenge. We try to keep the steps clear.
U-N-H RESEARCH SCIENTIST KEVAN CARPENTER LEADS THE WAY.
TAPE 186 CARPENTER we're about 40-feet up on top of the platform here, on the tower.
TAPE MACPHERSON it's moving.
TAPE CARPENTER it's definitely moving a bit. A little windy today. :09
CARPENTER POINTS TO A 4-INCH DIAMETER ALUMINUM PIPE THAT RISES ANOTHER 7 FEET ABOVE THE PLATFORM.
TAPE CARPENTER 191 and that's our inlet for all of our instruments down below us in the building. We pull air in through that pipe at about 1,000 liters a minute. /// and we take our sample lines off that manifold down below. /// 204
TAPE MACPHERSON you don't need a lot of air, you just need it fast.
TAPE CARPENTER we just need it fast. we don't want it to be sitting in any tubes for any length of time. :21
CARPENTER DOESN'T WANT THE AIR SAMPLE TO BE CORRUPTED BEFORE IT CAN BE ANALYZED. THIS IS, AFTER ALL, AN EXTREMELY SENSITIVE INSTRUMENT.
TAPE CARPENTER 230 we want to look at the large pollution events. Which are fairly easy to measure. But also, the background levels. So we're looking at levels down in the parts per billion, sometimes parts per trillion in the air. So very, very trace levels of gasses and particles in the atmosphere. I think that's really what makes this station stand out among the other facilities you see globally. :23
THIS OBSERVING "PLATFORM", AS IT'S CALLED, IS DESIGNED TO MONITOR 180-DISTINCT COMPOUNDS IN AIR. [SOME HAVE FAMILIAR NAMES, SUCH AS CARBON DIOXIDE, AND MERCURY. SOME MOST PEOPLE HAVE NEVER HEARD OF, SUCH AS methacrolein (me-thak-ra-lyn) ]
BUT THIS TOWER IS ONLY ONE OF DOZENS OF BOTH STATIONARY AND MOBILE PLATFORMS THAT WILL COLLECT DATA THIS SUMMER THROUGHOUT THE U-S AND ACROSS THE ATLANTIC OCEAN. THE HUB OF THE STUDY IS THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW HAMPSHIRE, WHERE ROBERT TALBOT DIRECTS THE CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH CENTER.
TAPE TALBOT 058 I’ve been involved with these for many years. And when we’ve done these regional scale experiments, they’ve been on a scale of maybe one or two aircraft, and the U.S. and maybe an accompanying country involved. 062 this time we have 5 countries, 12 aircraft, and a ship. Plus balloons and satellites. So it’s very large. :21
THE DATA COLLECTION IS THE BASIS FOR A FIVE YEAR, NINE MILLION DOLLAR EFFORT CALLED THE "NEW ENGLAND AIR QUALITY STUDY." THE STUDY WILL RELY ON U-N-H'S SPECIAL EXPERTISE IN ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH – AND ITS CENTRAL LOCATION. HUNDREDS OF RESEARCHERS FROM THE U.S., GREAT BRITAIN, GERMANY, FRANCE, AND CANADA WILL WORK TOGETHER IN A STUDY DIRECTED BY THE NATIONAL OCEANIC AND ATMOSPHERIC ADMINISTRATION, OR NOAA.
TAPE TALBOT 041 what we really want to know is quantitatively, how are changes in our climate, on a seasonal and longer time basis, related to air quality. We know these things are linked, but we don’t understand exactly how they’re linked. And that’s what we’re trying to understand. :15
TALBOT DEFINES CLIMATE AS "WEATHER AVERAGED OVER TIME." EVERY UNIQUE REGION GENERATES ITS OWN CLIMATE. AS AN AIR MASS MOVES ACROSS A REGION AND INTERACTS WITH ITS CLIMATE – AIR QUALITY IS AFFECTED. A POLLUTED OR DIRTY AIR MASS CAN BECOME CLEANER – OR IT CAN BECOME MORE POLLUTED. THE FOCUS OF THE STUDY IS ON NEW ENGLAND, BUT TALBOT SAYS RESEARCHERS WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO AN AIR MASS BEFORE AND AFTER IT PASSES THROUGH THE REGION.
TAPE TALBOT 099 we want to watch the air masses as they move across the U.S. -- and then in particular, when they get to the eastern u.s., they pick up lots of emissions where most of the urban activity is -- then watch the air masses leave the u.s. continent, go out over the Atlantic, transit for many days, and eventually make it’s way to Europe. :21
EMISSIONS COME NOT JUST FROM TAIL-PIPES – THEY OCCUR NATURALLY, TOO. FOR EXAMPLE, TREES TAKE UP C0-2 BY DAY – THEN THEY GIVE-OFF SOME C0-2 AT NIGHT. TALBOT SAYS OTHER KINDS OF NATURAL EMISSIONS FROM TREES COMBINE WITH MAN-MADE EMISSIONS.
TAPE TALBOT 227 the complicated thing about the chemistry in new England is that we have this large natural emission component from the forested regions, which really complicates the chemistry immensely, and how that interacts with the polluted air from more urban areas is not well understood. :16
ESPECIALLY IN SUMMER, SOME NATURAL EMISSIONS MIX WITH NITROGEN OXIDES, OR NOX – A MAJOR COMPONENT OF AUTOMOBILE EMISSIONS – TO HELP CREATE OZONE. AND OF COURSE, HIGH LEVELS OF GROUND-LEVEL OZONE ARE HARMFUL TO BREATHE. TALBOT HOPES THIS SUMMER'S STUDY WILL HELP SHED LIGHT ON OZONE PRODUCTION IN NEW ENGLAND.
TAPE TALBOT 368 it’s puzzling to me that in the last 2 to 3 years we’ve seen very high ozone episodes occurring in this region again, which haven’t occurred since the early to mid 80’s. so why, all the sudden, is ozone levels and ozone events during the summertime increasing significantly again in the region is really an unknown to me. :24
TALBOT SAYS AS EARLY AS THIS FALL, NOAA WILL USE INFORMATION GLEANED FROM THIS SUMMER'S STUDY TO HELP PRODUCE THE NATION'S FIRST AIR QUALITY FORECAST. AS SIMILAR AIR QUALITY STUDIES ARE CONDUCTED NATIONWIDE, THE FORECAST WILL EXTEND TO OTHER REGIONS.
THE NEW ENGLAND AIR QUALITY STUDY MIGHT ALSO PROVIDE SOME DEFINITIVE ANSWERS TO ANOTHER STICKY QUESTION.
TAPE TALBOT 489 one of the key things we're trying to figure out is for the air quality in new England, how much of it – of the poor air quality – is generated by transport into the region from out of the region, versus how much is generated within the region. And it's related to emissions in new England from industry, automobiles, natural vegetation, and then of course the importation of polluted air from all sorts of wind sectors upwind of us. :28
FOR YEARS, THE NEW ENGLAND STATES HAVE COMPLAINED THAT THE NATION'S PREVAILING EASTERLY WINDS IMPORT HARMFUL EMISSIONS FROM POWER PLANTS IN THE MIDWEST. MANY PEOPLE, INCLUDING SENATOR JUDD GREGG, WHO SECURED THE FUNDING FOR THE STUDY, HOPE IT WILL HELP NEW ENGLAND PROVE ITS CASE.
TAPE GREGG I would hope it would, because right now, to some extent it's anecdotal. And people argue, well the ozone threat is getting larger, and the science isn't as strong as it might be. When you get a study like this, which will be extraordinarily comprehensive, be a regional study, involves satellites, aircraft, ships, land observation. You're going to have very hard evidence. And that always help make a case, when you have hard evidence. :27
THAT EVIDENCE, SAYS GREGG, MIGHT LEAD TO THE PASSAGE OF HIS CLEAN AIR PLANNING ACT – AND TO TIGHTER EMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR U-S AUTOMOBILES. ALL OF WHICH MIGHT EVENTUALLY LEAD TO CLEANER AIR FOR NEW HAMPSHIRE.
FOR N-H-P-R NEWS, I'M DOUG MACPHERSON.
