PROGRAM IN AIR RESOURCES ENGINEERING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS (UTPARE)

The University of Texas at Austin has developed one of the world's largest and most active programs in Air Resources Engineering.  The University of Texas Program in Air Resources Engineering (UTPARE) currently includes six full-time faculty members supporting over 50 graduate students, 10 professional research staff, and 15 undergraduate researchers in three academic departments.  Laboratories associated with UTPARE research activities exceed 5,000 sq. feet in the Center for Energy and Environmental Resources at The University of Texas' J.J. Pickle Research campus.  Research activities within UTPARE fall into six broad categories: sources of air pollution, laboratory investigations of atmospheric physical and chemical processes, ambient air quality monitoring, ambient air quality modeling, indoor air quality, and air pollution control.  The portion of the program headed by Professor Allen includes 4 of those six areas, involves approximately 15 graduate students and 8 research staff, and is summarized below.

Sources of Air Pollution

The design of effective strategies for improving air quality relies on knowledge of the relative importance and chemical characteristics of sources of air pollution.  Dr. Allen’s research team is involved in numerous studies intended to improve the current state of understanding of a wide range of sources that emit hazardous air pollutants (HAPs), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), oxides of nitrogen (NO_x), and particulate matter.  In the past several years, UTPARE researchers have conducted studies of emissions due to natural vegetation, automotive refueling, vehicle exhaust emissions, industrial hydrocarbon emissions, and agricultural burning.  In addition, comprehensive emission inventories have been prepared for individual cities, and for specific chemicals, such as ammonia.

Laboratory Investigations of Atmospheric Physical and Chemical Processes

Laboratory studies of the fundamental physical and chemical processes that control the fate and transport of air pollutants complement the activities on source characterization. Professor Allen and his students use laboratory chambers to characterize the chemical pathways important in ozone formation and the chemical pathways that convert gas-phase VOCs into organic matter in atmospheric particulates. The chemical mechanisms and gas-to-particle conversion rates identified in these studies can be used directly in airshed models and reveal the relative importance of different VOC constituents in particle and ozone formation. The chemistry of liquid and solid particulate matter formed over the Gulf of Mexico (marine aerosols) and the cycling of chlorine in the atmosphere are also being investigated.

Ambient Air Quality Monitoring

Another group of projects focuses on characterizing air quality in Texas cities.  During the past five years, UT researchers have done ambient monitoring in Austin, Dallas, Houston, Longview, San Antonio, Tyler, and Victoria.  Professor Allen and his students take their samples from ground-based stations and from an aircraft operated by colleagues at Baylor University, measuring both gas-phase and particulate-phase air pollutants.  Measurements are used to calibrate air quality models such as the Urban Airshed Model (UAM) on the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions (CAMx) which, in turn, are used to evaluate emission reduction strategies. 

In the summer of 2000, local, state, and national air quality experts, led by the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and Professor Allen at the University of Texas, undertook the largest air quality field study ever undertaken in Texas.  The work was designed to improve understanding of the chemical and physical processes that control air pollutant formation and transport along the Gulf Coast of southeastern Texas.  The details of the study are described at the web site http://www.utexas.edu/research/ceer/texaqs.  Complementing the comprehensive air quality study is a focussed, 4-year sampling and analysis program for fine particulate matter, funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.  This Gulf Coast Aerosol Research and Characterization program is one of 7 particulate matter research “supersites” established by the U.S. EPA nationwide.  Together, these programs will play a major role in defining the scientific understanding that underlies air quality management in Texas for the next decade.

Ambient Air Quality Modeling

Professor Allen directs a program that performs regional air quality modeling.  The focus is on characterizing the effectiveness of control strategies in Texas.  Modeling has been performed for individual cities, such as Houston, Victoria and Austin, as well as for the State as a whole. The modeling group utilizes both regulatory modeling tools, such as the Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions (CAMx), as well as research tools such as the SAPRC chemical kinetics model.