The Center for Environmental Science:
A Joint Effort of The University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory

Overview

The broad goal of the Center for Environmental Science is to develop a comprehensive understanding of the way in which urbanization alters the chemical and physical environments to which large populations are exposed. As a joint effort of The University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory, the Center for Environmental Science will conduct research into the role of human activity as an influence on urban-scale climate and air quality, with special emphasis on factors that examine aerosols and human health (although health-related studies are not part of this request). Projects to be pursued with initial funding from EPA address three related topics: (1) analysis of existing data sets to define major components of the radiative energy budget of the Chicago urban region, (2) the conduct of new measurements related to radiation and air composition designed to highlight the influence of human activity on components of the energy budget and (3) regional-scale modeling with an emphasis on defining mechanisms that couple urbanization to altered local climatic conditions.

Summary of Initial Research Projects

The Center will pursue three projects with the initial funding from EPA. Following is a brief synopsis of each.

• Project 1. Existing meteorological and air quality data sets, including temperature, visibility, total solar radiation, ground-level ozone and particulate matter abundances, for the Chicago urban region will be analyzed, where the time period of interest is the past thirty years. This analysis will document the character of the diurnal cycle in temperatures throughout the metropolitan area and particularly its relationship to atmospheric parameters that are directly influenced by human activity. The specific objective is to determine the degree to which altered atmospheric optical properties and surface characteristics influence the 24-hour variation in surface temperatures as a function of time of year. This will be pursued via rigorous statistical analyses and the mechanistic model-based studies in Project 3.

• Project 2. New measurements will be made to evaluate the influence of the Chicago urban area on the optical properties of the lower atmosphere. Measurement sites will be established at Argonne National Laboratory (a suburban location) and the University of Chicago (an urban location). Equipment at both sites will include a visible-wavelength Multi-Filter Rotating Shadowband Radiometer for measurements of visible solar irradiance at selected wavelengths and of aerosol optical depths, a seven-channel Aethalometer for in-situ particle abundance and black carbon measurements, and a thermal infrared pyranometer for measuring total downwelling atmospheric irradiance. As with the analysis of existing data sets, the mechanistic model of Project 3 will provide a tool for the synthesis of this information.

• Project 3. Advanced parallel computing facilities at Argonne National Laboratory have allowed development of an efficient regional scale climate model. This model, which forms the basis for the Regional Climate Center at Argonne, will be a primary tool for synthesis of the data sets summarized above. Simulations at horizontal resolutions of 10 km to 30 km are possible, where the outputs comprise most important meteorological variables. Inclusion of empirical information on atmospheric optical properties and surface conditions into the model simulations will allow an assessment of the role of the Chicago area on regional urban air temperatures under a variety of meteorological conditions.

Organization and Management

Management of the Center will be the responsibility of the Director, Deputy Director and an Executive Committee. The Director is Professor John E. Frederick from the University of Chicago, and the Deputy Director will be Dr. Barry M. Lesht of Argonne National Laboratory. The Executive Committee, which has yet to be appointed, will consist of three senior researchers drawn from the two participating institutions as well as the Director and Deputy Director. A Scientific Advisory Committee composed of distinguished researchers will be named and will meet at least once per year to provide inputs on all aspects of the Center's operation, including future scientific directions.

Contact Information

Director:
Dr. John E. Frederick
Department of the Geophysical Sciences
The University of Chicago
5734 S. Ellis Ave.
Chicago, IL 60637-1434

Tel: (773) 702-3237
Fax: (773) 702-9505
E-mail: frederic@uchicago.edu

Deputy Director:
Dr. Barry M. Lesht
Environmental Research Division
Argonne National Laboratory
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, IL 60439-4803

Tel: (630) 252-4208
Fax: (630) 252-2959
E-mail: bmlesht@anl.gov