Project:	Investigating the Potential Role of Ammonia in PM2.5 Pollution Near Salton Sea in Southern California (JPL AO No. 15568)
Disciplines:	Earth Science, Chemistry
Mentor:	Olga Kalashnikova, (JPL), Olga.Kalashnikova@jpl.nasa.gov, Phone: (818) 393-0469
Background:	Ammonia plays a multifaceted and significant role in atmospheric chemistry and air quality. It primarily originates from agricultural and industrial activities, as well as natural sources, and is a key precursor to fine particulate matter (PM2.5). This impacts both atmospheric visibility and human health. The interaction of ammonia with acidic pollutants leads to the formation of ammonium salts, contributing to secondary PM. However, accurately characterizing ammonia is challenging due to its high reactivity and solubility, which complicates its measurement and analysis. This limitation hinders our understanding of its atmospheric transport and transformation. In California, a state with extensive agricultural and industrial activities, ammonia emissions are notably high. Yet, conventional emission inventories often underestimate these emissions, leaving a gap in our understanding of ammonia's true impact on air quality. The areas around the Salton Sea in Southern California are significant ammonia emission hotspots due to a combination of agricultural, industrial, dairy, cattle feedlot, and geothermal power plant activities. To characterize the trends, levels, and sources of ammonia and its impact on PM levels in the Salton Sea region, we conducted two comprehensive field campaigns in March and September 2023. These campaigns integrated airborne remote sensing with ground-based stationary and mobile monitoring, coupled with chemical transport modeling.
Description:	We obtained an extensive air quality monitoring dataset collected over a year by the South Coast Air Quality Management District at a site northwest of the Salton Sea. This dataset contains concentrations of gases (e.g., ammonia, ozone, nitrogen oxides, etc.) and chemically speciated particulate matter (e.g., carbons, ions, metals, etc.), as well as meteorological data. The goal of this project is to investigate the relationship between ammonia and the formation of PM2.5. The proposed student tasks include: (1) becoming familiar with the different datasets already collected; (2) exploring potential relationships among measured air pollutants; (3) performing multivariate analysis to determine the relationship levels of ammonia and changes in PM2.5 total mass concentrations and chemical composition; (4) utilizing aerosol chemistry principles to estimate the formation of ammonium salts from observed ammonia levels, and assessing their contribution to the overall PM2.5 mass and composition.
References:	Kuai, L., O. V. Kalashnikova, F. M. Hopkins, G. C. Hulley, H. Lee, M. J. Garay, R. M. Duren, J. R.Worden, and S. J. Hook (2019), Quantification of Ammonia Emissions With High Spatial Resolution Thermal Infrared Observations From the Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer (HyTES) Airborne Instrument, IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observbations and Remote Sensing , 12 (12), 4798–4812, doi:10.1109/JSTARS.2019.2918093. Tratt, D. M., S. J. Young, D. K. Lynch, K. N. Buckland, P. D. Johnson, J. L. Hall, K. R. Westberg, M. L. Polak, B. P. Kasper, and J. Qian (2011), Remotely sensed ammonia emission from fumarolic vents associated with a hydrothermally active fault in the Salton Sea Geothermal Field, California, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D21308, doi:10.1029/2011JD016282.
Student Requirements:	1) Basic understanding of atmospheric chemistry and environmental science; 2) Proficiency in statistical analysis and multivariate analysis techniques; 3) familiarity with programming languages such as Python or R for data analysis and visualization.
Location / Safety:	Project building and/or room locations: . Student will need special safety training: .
Programs:	This AO can be done under the following programs:   Program    Available To        SURF@JPL    both Caltech and non-Caltech students  Click on a program name for program info and application requirements.