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Faculty-Student Research in Air Quality

Below are examples of of recent faculty-student research in air quality. Each project provides information on the motivation and objectives of the work, a listing of collaborators, and links for project deliverables and additional resources.

monitoring equipment on granite island

Aerosol Concentration and Atmospheric Conditions: A Case Study at Granite Island, Michigan

The Granite Island Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) location became a new ground-based remote sensing aerosol site in 2018, and is the first site to collect aerosol data in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula using a Cimel sun photometer. The purpose of this study was to analyze the first complete year (2019) of AERONET data collected at Granite Island, Michigan, and to seek explanations for sudden increases in aerosol optical depth (AOD) values. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite imagery, solar irradiance data, and meteorological data were used in conjunction with AERONET data for further validation. Granite Island had fairly low AOD levels during 2019, with a few exceptions. The highest AOD levels of the year were measured on July 7, 2019 and coincided with distant wildfires adding particulates to the air. MODIS satellite imagery and solar irradiance data corresponded with the short-term high AOD levels observed at Granite Island, validating the AERONET measurements.

Years active
2019 - 2022

Lead faculty research mentor
Dr. Susy Ziegler

Research sponsors
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia
Science Systems and Applications (SSAI), Inc., Hampton, Virginia 

Student Collaborators
Elizabeth Hoffman (EART, 2020)

External Research Collaborators
Fred Denn, Science Systems and Applications and NASA
Bryan Fabbri, Science Systems and Applications and NASA
Jay Madigan, Science Systems and Applications and NASA

Products

  • Presentation at the East Lakes Division of the American Association of Geographers, Saginaw Valley State University, 2019.
  • Hoffman, E., Denn, F., Fabbri, B., Madigan, J., and Ziegler, S.S. 2022. Aerosol Concentration and Atmospheric Conditions: A Case Study at Granite Island, Michigan. The Geographical Bulletin 63(3): 145-158.  LINK.

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