Ariel Stein and Xinrong Ren are among the co-authors of a manuscript titled “Wintertime CO2, CH4 and CO emissions estimation for the Washington DC / Baltimore metropolitan area using an inverse modeling technique” that was accepted for publication in Environmental Science & Technology.

Alice Crawford gave a presentation titled “Volcanic Ash Forecasting for Aviation” to the FACETs (forecasting a continuum of environmental threats) working group on February 13, 2020. The talk was presented over the web and the focus was on how volcanic ash forecasting is evolving from binary ash/no ash forecasts to quantitative and probabilistic forecasts.

The Baltimore-Washington Chapter of the Air and Waste Management Association held a regional symposium on February 13. This event was sponsored by and held at the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Science. ARL’s Allison Ring was instrumental in assisting symposium chair Dr. Tim Canty with event organization and management and Dr. Pius Lee presented “Ozone production and the performance of the National Air Quality Forecasting Capability in the Mid-Atlantic in recent years” on behalf of invited speaker Dr. Ariel Stein. Dr. Lee delivered a cross-cutting summary of ARL’s leadership in boundary layer science and air chemistry that have benefited air quality forecasters and district air managers in understanding the rapidly changing chemical regimes and emission characteristics in the Mid-Atlantic Region. In particular, he showcased measurement expertise to quantify large methane emitters in the region, led by Dr. Xinrong Ren, and HYSPLIT-based smoke plume forecasting by Dr. Ring and her colleagues on ARL’s dispersion team – both of whom were in the audience. Pius’ talk answered some of the burning questions about the City of Baltimore’s air quality standard attainment issues by sharing recent trends of emission and pollution transport patterns in the region. While it is encouraging that the region has seen cleaner air in recent years, the standard attainment responsibility will remain a continual challenge, especially for the City of Baltimore which is situated downwind of large emitters. The symposium attracted representatives from NOAA, NASA, NIH, and DOE; Air Directors from the District of Columbia, Maryland, and the Mid-Atlantic Regional Air Management Association; faculty and researchers from UMD, Johns Hopkins University, George Washington University and various private entities, assembling them together in one room to discuss the important nexus of air quality research and policy. Results from field campaigns in the Maryland area were shown and new campaigns were discussed. Field missions and communication of results aimed at answering the pressing air quality policy problems in Maryland were emphasized. This was a great opportunity to reconnect with colleagues in different organizations and build new bridges with those in the policy community.