Abstract View
Journal of Applied Meteorology
Article: pp. 1425–1437 | Full Text | PDF (918K)
Coastal Boundary Layer Influence on Pollutant Transport in New England
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado
NOAA/Aeronomy Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado
NOAA/Environmental Technology Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado
Plymouth State University, Plymouth, New Hampshire
AIRMAP, University of New Hampshire, Durham, New Hampshire
Maine Department of Environmental Protection, Augusta, Maine
(Manuscript received 5 September 2003, in final form 23 March 2004)
DOI: 10.1175/JAM2148.1
Air pollution episodes in northern New England often are caused by transport of pollutants over water. Two such episodes in the summer of 2002 are examined (22–23 July and 11–14 August). In both cases, the pollutants that affected coastal New Hampshire and coastal southwest Maine were transported over coastal waters in stable layers at the surface. These layers were at least intermittently turbulent but retained their chemical constituents. The lack of deposition or deep vertical mixing on the overwater trajectories allowed pollutant concentrations to remain strong. The polluted plumes came directly from the Boston, Massachusetts, area. In the 22–23 July case, the trajectories were relatively straight and dominated by synoptic-scale effects, transporting pollution to the Maine coast. On 11–14 August, sea breezes brought polluted air from the coastal waters inland into New Hampshire.
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