An historical experiment: Los Angeles smog evolution observed by blimp

Observations of smog over the Los Angeles Basin (LAB) links high oxidant mixing ratios with poor visibility, sometimes <5 km. By the 1970s, investigators recognized that most of the aerosol affecting visibility was from gaseous oxidation products, sulfate, nitrate, and organic carbon. This led to the 1972–1973 Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACHEX), which included observations at the ground and from aircraft. Part of ACHEX was the measurement of smog by blimp in a Lagrangian-like format. The experiment on September 6, 1973, demonstrated that a blimp could travel with the wind across the LAB, observing ozone (O₃) and precursors, and particles of different size ranges. These included condensation nuclei (CN) concentrations dominated by particles of ≤ 0.1 µm diameter and light scattering coefficient (b_sc) representing mainly particles of 0.1–2.0 µm diameter. The results indicated a pollutant variation similar to that measured at a fixed site. Ozone was produced in an air mass, reaching a maximum of ~400 ppb in the presence of nitrogen oxides (NO_x) and nonmethane hydrocarbons (NMHCs), then declined. Although the photochemistry was developing, b_sc grew with O₃ mixing ratio to a quasi-steady state at ~9–10 × 10⁻⁴ m⁻¹, decreasing in value much later with decease in O₃. The light scattering coefficient was found to be positively associated with the O₃ mixing ratio, whereas CN concentrations were negatively proportional to O₃ mixing ratio. The blimp experiment was supported with aircraft vertical profiles and ground-level observations from a mobile laboratory. The blimp flight obtained combined gas and particle changes aloft that could not be obtained by ground or fixed-wing aircraft measurements alone. The experiment was partially successful in achieving a true Lagrangian characterization of smog chemistry in a constrained or defined “open” air mass.

Implications: The Los Angeles experiment demonstrated the use of a blimp as a platform for measurement of air pollution traveling with an air mass across an urban area. The method added unique data showing the relationship between photochemical smog chemistry and aerosol dynamics in smog. The method offers an alternative to reliance on smog chamber and modeling observations to designing air quality management strategies for reactive pollutants.