A Break in the Clouds

Scripps researcher to help determine if Beijing pollution control measures are successful during Summer Olympics

To help Olympic athletes breathe a little easier, Beijing has implemented plans to limit emissions by industries in and around the city and also remove as many as 1.5 million cars from the roads when the Summer Games begin Aug. 8.

And to see if this and other long-term mitigation measures are making a noticeable dent in the city's emissions, Scripps Institution of Oceanography atmospheric and climate scientist V. Ramanathan and his team hope to monitor the region's air from neighboring South Korea. Ramanathan plans to launch a small formation of unmanned aircraft from South Korea's Cheju Island, which is located downwind from Beijing.

The campaign will start in June and will last through September. During the four months, the team expects to sample air from many regions of southern and northern China including Beijing. The aircraft, which are autonomously controlled by onboard GPS systems and computers on the ground, will measure the concentrations of air pollution particles transported from Beijing and other parts of east Asia. The airborne data will be combined with ground measurements in China made by researchers there and with satellite data to determine the effect of Chinese air pollution reduction polices on the environment and regional climate.

"Thanks to the Summer Olympics, China is conducting this fantastic experiment, which is a dream-come-true for atmospheric scientists interested in studying the effects of air pollution on climate," Ramanathan said.

The field study is part of a larger effort by Ramanathan to understand the nature and effects of black carbon emissions from various sources in south and east Asia. A combination of traditional practices and rapidly expanding industrial activities have created in recent decades a phenomenon known as an atmospheric brown cloud (ABC), a mass of particulate pollution capable of disrupting rainfall patterns, cloud formation and air temperatures.

In 2005, Ramanathan and his team first successfully used the unmanned aircraft, which carry a payload of miniaturized meteorological instruments, to record atmospheric conditions. The aircraft represented a breakthrough in climate observation by providing an unprecedented dimensional profile of clouds and aerosols.

The National Science Foundation and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fund this project. Ramanathan, who delivered a report on the threat posed by ABCs in February to the environmental ministers of China and India, said that Chinese officials are also stepping up efforts to study the problem as part of a larger endeavor to address their country's emissions of soot and other forms of black carbon.

"I've been delighted to see that the Chinese officials are supportive and that they've announced major activities to study the ABC problem in China," Ramanathan said.

—Robert Monroe