Upper Green River Basin Winter Ozone Study

摘要

Unusual wintertime high ozone concentrations occasionally exceeding 75 ppb (8-hour average) have been observed during three out of the past five winter seasons at monitoring sites in the oil and gas production regions of the upper Green River Basin of western Wyoming. Such high concentrations of ozone in an otherwise rural environment were surprising, especially during the winter months. These observations generated considerable interest among air quality scientists and regulators. Consequently, the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WDEQ) sponsored an extensive multi-year field measurement program known as the Upper Green River Winter Ozone Study (UGWOS) to gain a better understanding of the meteorology and chemistry of these elevated winter ozone episodes. The overarching objectives of UGWOS were to 1) provide information needed to develop a conceptual understanding of processes leading to the occurrence of high ozone events in the Upper Green River Basin and 2) provide data needed to develop accurate meteorological and air quality numerical simulations of high ozone events in the region. UGWOS field measurement campaigns were conducted in various configurations over four consecutive late winter (February - March) seasons beginning in 2007.