Meteorological Influences on Surface Ozone in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Region

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dc.contributor.advisorWang, Yuxuan
dc.contributor.committeeMemberFlynn, James H., III
dc.contributor.committeeMemberJiang, Xun
dc.contributor.committeeMemberKotsakis, Alexander
dc.creatorGriggs, Philip
dc.date.accessioned2023-06-14T16:35:42Z
dc.date.createdMay 2023
dc.date.issued2023-04-18
dc.date.updated2023-06-14T16:35:43Z
dc.description.abstractVarying meteorology within the complex coastal subtropical environment of the Houston- Galveston-Brazoria (HGB) region has emerged as a driving factor of surface ozone concentrations, which are harmful to human health. Thus, analysis of ozone trends around common meteorological events as well as routine collection of air quality data in unmonitored over water areas drives a more complete understanding of the influence meteorology has on high ozone events in the HGB region. Chapter 1 describes the deployment of three boats outfitted with ozone and meteorological instruments to the Gulf of Mexico and Galveston Bay for the Galveston Offshore Ozone Observations (GO3) and Tracking Aerosol Convection Interactions ExpeRiment - Air Quality (TRACER-AQ) field campaigns from July-October of 2021 to address the observational gap in over water air quality data needed to verify and improve photochemical modeling. During these campaigns, over 600 mobile hours were logged including 134 missions and 35 ozonesondes launched throughout Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Several periods of ozone exceeding 100 ppbv were observed over the waters of Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico during the operational period. Chapter 2 examines the relationship between mesoscale circulations and surface ozone in the HGB area between 2020-2022. The HGB area was found to have a strong correlation between mesoscale circulations and maximum daily 8-hour (MDA8) ozone exceedance days with 91% of exceedance days exhibiting a bay breeze or mesoscale induced storm. Additionally, a unique feature of rapid ozone enhancement coincident with the passage of mesoscale boundaries was analyzed. Chapter 3 discusses the development of a novel method for clustering North Atlantic tropical cyclones (TC) from 2010-2021 using a k-means algorithm for the purpose of relating the time-period around the landfall of a TC in North America to MDA8 ozone exceedances in the HGB area. Landfall locations along the east coast of the United States were found to produce the highest MDA8 ozone values in the HGB area, with an average maximum MDA8 ozone value in the region of 101 ppbv in the 0-2 day period after landfall.
dc.description.departmentEarth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
dc.format.digitalOriginborn digital
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdf
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10657/14517
dc.language.isoeng
dc.rightsThe author of this work is the copyright owner. UH Libraries and the Texas Digital Library have their permission to store and provide access to this work. Further transmission, reproduction, or presentation of this work is prohibited except with permission of the author(s).
dc.subjectOzone
dc.subjectO3
dc.subjectHouston
dc.subjectHGB
dc.subjectMeteorology
dc.subjectGalveston Bay
dc.subjectMDA8
dc.subjectBoats
dc.subjectAir quality
dc.titleMeteorological Influences on Surface Ozone in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria Region
dc.type.dcmiText
dc.type.genreThesis
dcterms.accessRightsThe full text of this item is not available at this time because the student has placed this item under an embargo for a period of time. The Libraries are not authorized to provide a copy of this work during the embargo period.
local.embargo.lift2025-05-01
local.embargo.terms2025-05-01
thesis.degree.collegeCollege of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
thesis.degree.departmentEarth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
thesis.degree.disciplineAtmospheric Sciences
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Houston
thesis.degree.levelDoctoral
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophy

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