Objective

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) conducts military training and testing activities on approximately 30 million acres of land. These activities can generate emissions of regulated particulate matter (i.e., PM10 and PM2.5) with the potential to impact local and regional air quality. State and local regulatory agencies enforce the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated PM standards and can require reductions from sources that contribute significantly to PM concentrations in areas that exceed the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Unfortunately, many military installations are located in, or near, existing or proposed air quality non-attainment areas. Accurately quantifying and assessing spatial and temporal surface conditions for soil-specific, vehicle-specific, and activity-specific characteristics is critical to understanding the impact of surface conditions on potential emissions in the near-source area and the downrange area, especially at the installation fence-line.

This project will use a combination of soil science and meteorological and traditional air quality sampling methods to accurately measure soil and surface characteristics, identify those characteristics significant to fugitive PM emissions and wind erosion, and develop lidar instrumentation to measure fence-line concentrations from large-area emission sources produced by military activities on DoD installations.