A specialty conference addressing methods, measurements, modeling and data analysis findings related to particulate matter (PM) air quality from the past 5 years or so is supported in this project. Although little dispute exists within the community that aerosols (particulate matter or PM) play important roles with respect to human/ecosystem health and the earth's climate, there remains considerable uncertainty as to the nature and specific contributions of such effects. The Supersites Program's goals are to develop information that will reduce uncertainties in understanding of PM accumulation in air; to evaluate and advance methods for PM measurement; and to support health effects and exposure studies. The current state of understanding and plans for future advancement in these areas will be explored in the conference. The results of this effort will be the publication of a number of scientific papers in special journal issues that can serve as useful scientific resources to key stake holders and the relevant scientific communities, with the overall goal to establish effective emission management strategies to reduce the impact of PM on humans and ecosystems. In addition, a book of abstracts of papers presented at the conference will be published and also made available on the American Association for Aerosol Research web site.
