This award will provide micrometeorological instrumentation for research and training to the Department of Geography at California State University at Fresno. The instruments include a tethersonde, an eddy covariance system, and a large aperture boundary layer scintillometer. Acquisition of the instruments will help the Geography Department to realize the objectives of its micrometeorological program. Future research making use of this instrumentation on pollutant emissions and transport in an urban environment is intended to be carried out using an innovative approach to characterizing turbulent transfers. These studies will seek to improve current knowledge of the flux variance relationships in urban surface layers, which are much less well understood than in low roughness homogeneous surfaces.
These instruments will provide opportunities for undergraduate students, including women and students from under-represented groups, to get hands-on experience on contemporary tools in micrometeorology, and introduce them to societally relevant research topics. This award will also contribute to scientific infrastructure that will promote research and training in science in this region. Future research will contribute to efforts by local, state and federal environmental agencies toward improving methods of quantifying air pollutants in the San Joaquin Valley, where there are indications that exposure to pollutants (such as airborne particulate matter and ozone) is linked to adverse health effects.
