Researcher Studies Impacts of Ozone on Atlantic
HOUGHTON-- A Michigan Tech researcher is investigating the impacts of ozone produced in the northeast United States on the Central North Atlantic. Dr Richard Honrath, of Michigan Techs Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, has received a $75,000 grant from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Office of Global Programs to fund the study.
Research conducted by Honrath in 1993 and 1997 measured the levels of carbon monoxide, a tracer of pollution, and nitrogen oxide, a precursor to ozone, in the troposphere, the lower atmosphere. This research has suggested that ozone is being produced and exported. Impacts of the ozone are both positive and negative. It is a respiratory irritant that destroys crops and forests and is a greenhouse gas. However, it also produces hydroxide, a radical cleanser.
Honrath will seek more accurate measurements of ozone at a higher atmosphere above the clouds. He, in collaboration with scientists from the University of Lisbon, and the University of Azores will make measurements on top of Mount Pico in the Azores. "The summit of Pico Mountain is the only location in the central North Atlantic at which ground-based measurements of the composition of the free troposphere, the atmosphere above the humid marine boundary level, are possible" explains Honrath. They will depend on wind and solar power and helicopters from Portugal to complete their research 2.3-km up the mountain. Radon and carbon dioxide will also be measured to monitor volcanic activity on Pico for public safety.
Honrath hopes, that with this new data, researchers will have "an improved understanding of the extent to which air pollutant emissions affect the global atmosphere. This information will help the United States and other countries determine whether pollutant impacts-global climate change and ozone toxicity to ecosystems and people are large enough to warrant emission control."
###
12/14/98