Colorado Ozone Pollution to be Measured in $10M Study

Scientists are taking to the skies to measure air pollution along Colorado's northern Front Range as a way to help identify the sources and levels of harmful ozone, researchers said Tuesday.

Specially-equipped aircraft, balloons, mobile vans and ground stations will collect and analyze millions of air samples over the next month, from the south Denver area to Fort Collins.

"This is one of the largest air quality studies that has taken place in Colorado and even in the United States," Gabriele Pfister, a scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, or NCAR, told The Associated Press (AP).

Summertime, while enjoyable for its warm weather, is also when ozone pollution is at its peak. As global temperatures rise with climate change, summertime ozone - an invisible but harmful pollutant - will become more difficult to keep in check, scientists have found.

"By 2050, heavily polluted locations in parts of the East, Midwest and West Coast, where ozone already frequently exceeds federally recommended levels, could face unhealthy summer air in most years," National Science Foundation (NSF), involved in the study, said in a statement.

Known as the Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Experiment (FRAPPé), the $10 million study will help regulators target their efforts to reduce ozone, as well as allow scientists to predict ozone levels more accurately, verify how good current monitoring is and improve computer models that forecasters use.

The oil and gas industry releases the majority of ozone-producing chemicals in the area, according to Gary Kaufman, a deputy administrator for the state health department. Power plants, agriculture and vehicles also emit harmful pollution, but the kinds of chemicals cars produce more readily create ozone, Kaufman added.

Ozone can exacerbate asthma and other breathing problems, as well as damage crops and vegetation, the AP reported. Measuring ozone levels is therefore important in finding a way to bring levels down.

"This is really going to help us target our efforts," Kaufman said.

Two NASA aircraft and one from the NSF will fly a total of up to 300 hours during the study - funded by state and federal governments - collecting samples and making observations.

During the study, which runs from July 16 through mid-August, nearby residents will notice xome of the aircraft will spiral downward above ground stations so researchers have readings at multiple elevations at the same spot.

Researchers expect to publish their first reports within a year but say the data will support years of study.

"This effort will dramatically advance our understanding of air quality and its potential effects," Thomas Bogdan, president of the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, which manages NCAR, said in the statement.

"The results have the potential to help not only people living on Colorado's Front Range, but residents of other metropolitan areas with similar conditions."