WSU Wins Grant To Study Air Pollution In China

The National Science Foundation awarded Washington State University more than $200,000 to research air pollution in China.

Members of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, led by professor Brian Lamb, are working to develop a more thorough understanding of how pollution in large cities affects the environment.

Lamb and his team are centering their research in Tianjin, China. The area has a population of more than 12 million, and it is one of the largest cities in the country.

Rather than studying the effects of individual sources of pollution, the team will take flux measurements, which will register all pollution sources in the city. The measurements will come from a 250-meter tower, so researchers can better understand the overall air quality. This provides information about every pollutant affecting the air in Tianjin, including organic gases, according to a WSU News release.

Serena Chung is one of the many researchers involved in the project. She is focusing on natural pollutants as opposed to man-made substances.

“We want to understand how pollution happens,” she said. “We’re very collaborative. We’re all working together. It has been working very well for us.” Researcher Timothy VanReken is specifically studying particulates in the air, which have the most impact on human health. He said this is the first time these flux measurements are being used in the region.

“A lot of times when you’re measuring pollution in cities, you’re measuring concentration, and that tells you a lot of information about the air, but that doesn’t tell you about where the pollution came from,” he said. “Not too many groups are capable of doing that.” Graduate student George Mwaniki, who is also studying particulates in the air, said that by studying all types of pollution the research becomes much more thorough.

“This area is looking at how particulates are formed in the atmosphere when they are from natural sources,” he said.