Washington State University researchers Brian Lamb and George Mount are conducting NASA-funded satellite work that allows them to pinpoint the sources of pollutants by following them through the atmosphere.
The two WSU professors oversee a regional air-quality model called AIRPACT, which tracks and predicts urban air pollution in the Pacific Northwest. They also use computer modeling to study how global warming will affect air quality in the region and throughout the country.
Lamb and Mount will discuss their research in “Challenges in the Air: Facing the Issue of Global Climate Change” from noon to 1:30 p.m. Sept. 5 at The Rainier Club, 840 4th Ave., Seattle. Tickets are $30 per person and include lunch from noon to 1:30 p.m., with registration to begin at 11:30 a.m. To reserve a spot, visit https://www.theinnovators.wsu.edu or call toll free, (877) 978-3868. Registration will continue until capacity is reached.
During the past 25 years, the pace of research on climate change has quickened because of concern that human activitynot just climate changecould cause alterations of atmospheric temperatures leading to irreversible global damage.
To address this issue, atmospheric engineers Lamb and Mount created state-of-the-art instruments to measure climate change in hopes of reversing current global trends. From ground explorations to determine how much CO2 is sequestered by forests, to measuring the greenhouse gases emitted from crops and animal operations, to satellite views of atmospheric change, the scientists can reliably model climate change and its effects on future air pollution levels. The satellite work, funded by NASA, allows them to pinpoint the source of pollutants, and follow them as they move through the atmosphere.
Lamb and his collaborators led the development of the Biogenic Emission Inventory System, which the Environmental Protection Agency adopted as a tool to address ozone problems. He received a doctorate from the California Institute of Technology.
Mount is director of the WSU Center for Environmental Research, Education, and Outreach, and a professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His research is funded primarily by NASA and the National Science Foundation. Mount earned a doctorate in physics from the University of Colorado.
For more information on The Innovators series, visit www.theinnovators.wsu.edu.
