High spatial resolution perspectives on urban emissions and chemistry: views from the ground and space

Abstract:

We are in the midst of a data revolution. It has two parts. First, there is an explosion in the number and type of observations. The second is slower and more subtle. It is the change in how we use data to think about the world. There are questions that could never have been asked without the explosion in data and the answers are producing new insights into all kinds of physical and human phenomena. We know this revolution is happening from our daily lives. We use apps that guide us around traffic jams and we hear about women whose pregnancies were identified by their shopping habits prior to a urine test. The ease with which we record the events in our daily lives on social media and our confusion about the extent to which those recordings are data for mining by individuals, corporations and governments are another example. Observations of the atmosphere are no exception to this revolution. It is now possible to observe the atmosphere with a density of measurements in space and time that is orders of magnitude beyond what was possible 10 years ago. This is even more so for observations of the chemicals in the atmosphere. Where we used to think in terms of one or two measurement locations in a city, or that our primary window into the chemistry of the atmosphere might be short chemically comprehensive field campaigns, it is now possible to envision liberally sprinkling measurements everywhere. In the coming years we can expect observations from lampposts or cell phones. Satellites will be launched that have neighborhood scale resolution. This first phase of dramatically enhanced observations is coming upon us quickly. The second phase where we learn to use that information to learn something new about the world around us is less clear. In this talk I will provide examples of my group’s approach to fostering this revolution in observing and learning about the atmosphere in an attempt to foster a conversation about experiments to learn about new approaches to observing.