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Global Air Quality An Imperative for Long-Term Observational Strategies (2001) / Chapter Skim
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Executive Summary
Pages 1-4

The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.


From page 1...
... In the coming decades, however, rapid population growth and urbanization in many regions of the world, as well as changing climatic conditions, may expand the scope of air quality concerns by significantly altering atmospheric composition over broad regional and even global scales. Ozone and PM are of particular concern because their atmospheric residence times are long enough to influence air quality in regions far from their sources and because they also contribute to climate change.
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From page 2...
... Addressing these complex questions about global air quality change will require a comprehensive research strategy that integrates atmospheric observations covering a wide range of spatial and temporal scales together with diagnostic, global, and regional models. Other key elements in this research framework include inventories of pollutant emissions, meteorological data to describe atmospheric conditions and transport, laboratory measurements to characterize important chemical reactions, and process studies to provide detailed understanding of complex chemical and dynamical phenomena.
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From page 3...
... The following are the committee's conclusions and recommendations: Key findings: Current observational systems are not adequate for characterizing many important medium- and long-term global air quality changes. Some particularly notable weaknesses in our current observational capabilities include the lack of (i)
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From page 4...
... These two recommendations will require providing support to: · develop uniform and traceable standards, on a global basis, for calibration of both gas-phase and aerosol measurements; · improve measurement technologies for use in current observational platforms (such as ground-based air quality monitoring networks, commercial aircraft, and balloons/sondes) , and in new potential platforms such as "supersites" for measuring a comprehensive suite of compounds in remote locations and unmanned aerial vehicles for longduration sampling of the atmosphere over a wide range of altitudes; · integrate measurements obtained from different observational programs and platforms, with a particular focus on integrating remotelysensed satellite observations with in situ aircraft and ground-based observations; .
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Key Terms

  • species including
  • current observational
  • quality changes
  • coming decades
  • atmospheric composition

  • quality change
  • meteorological data
  • pollutant emissions
  • chemical reactions
  • future changes

  • predict future
  • observed changes
  • nitrogen oxides
  • atmospheric observations
  • global scales

  • understanding global
  • chemical species
  • comprehensive global
  • tal transport
  • process studies

  • decades due
  • regional models
  • total global
  • accurately predict
  • model analyses

  • measurement programs
  • global emissions
  • observational capabilities
  • increasing population
  • quality affected


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