DOCSLIB.ORG

San Joaquin Valley: Facing the Challenge of Public Engagement

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
San Joaquin Valley: Facing the Challenge of Public Engagement The Long Road to Clean Air in the San Joaquin Valley: Facing the Challenge of Public Engagement David Lighthall, Ph.D. John Capitman, Ph.D. California State University, Fresno Central Valley Health Policy Institute Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank the following people for their invaluable assistance with the publication of this report. Appreciation is also extended to the individuals who provided peer review of the report. Editing and Design Deborah Riordan, PT, MPH Debbie Wray Donna DeRoo, MPA Event Planning and Administrative Support Latrica Washington Web Support Carla Hawks Communications and Public Relations Brandie Campbell Office of University Communications at California State University, Fresno Leadership and Project Support Carole Chamberlain, Program Officer, The California Endowment Benjamin Cuellar, Dean, College of Health and Human Services, California State University, Fresno Laurie Primavera, Associate Director, Central Valley Health Policy Institute The Members of the Regional Advisory Council, Central Valley Health Policy Institute Central Valley Health Policy Institute The Central Valley Health Policy Institute was established in 2002 at California State University, Fresno to facilitate regional research, leadership training and graduate education programs to address emerging health policy issues that influence the health status of people living in the San Joaquin Valley. The Institute was funded in July 2003 by The California Endowment, in partnership with the university, to promote health policy and planning in the region. Additional information about the Central Valley Health Policy Institute, its programs and activities (including this report), academic and community resources may be found at: www.cvhpi.org. Central Valley Health Policy Institute Central California Center for Health and Human Services College of Health and Human Services California State University, Fresno 1625 E. Shaw Avenue, Suite 146 Fresno, CA 93710-8106 559.228.2150 Fax: 559.228.2168 Suggested Citation Lighthall, D., and Capitman, J. (2007, December). The Long Road to Clean Air in the San Joaquin Valley: Facing the Challenge of Public Engagement. Fresno, CA: California State University, Fresno. Copyright Information Copyright © 2007 by California State University, Fresno. This report may be printed and distributed free of charge for academic or planning purposes without the written permission of the copyright holder. Citation as to source, however, is appreciated. Distribution for profit of the material is prohibited without specific permission of the copyright holder. This report was supported through a grant from The California Endowment to California State University, Fresno. The views expressed in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the funders or the university. The Long Road to Clean Air in the San Joaquin Valley: Facing the Challenge of Public Engagement David Lighthall, Ph.D. John Capitman, Ph.D. Central Valley Health Policy Institute College of Health and Human Services California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno residents are engaged with the issue. The generation of Introduction knowledge and related strategies to resolve the contradiction between high public concern and low The focus of this report is on a particularly challenged public engagement is a primary motivation for this region, the San Joaquin Valley, and its efforts to meet report. Three elements compose our definition of public public health standards for air quality.1 Our intent is to engagement: knowledge, participation, and democratic provide a wide audience of non-experts with a representation. In respect to knowledge, the public does comprehensive understanding of the air quality policy not have a clear understanding of the air pollution landscape in the San Joaquin Valley, coupled with management process and the government agencies in practical recommendations for enhancing the public’s charge. In turn, only a tiny fraction of the Valley public engagement with air quality policy making in the years to directly participates in the making of air quality policy at come. the regional, state, and federal levels. Nor do most of the There is an increasing recognition in California of the organizations to which Valley residents belong have a critical linkages between environmental change and voice in air quality policy making. public health. Three inter-related issues are paramount, Integral to our emphasis on public engagement is a key each corresponding to a different timeframe of assumption relevant to Valley air quality and other behavioral and public policy adaptation. In the long term, serious environmental health issues: Public health climate change is arguably the most serious public health problems arising from fundamental contradictions challenge, complicated by the fact that its resolution will between the natural environment and society cannot be inherently require substantial international cooperation solved without painful public policy decisions at all levels towards a transformation in global energy systems. The of government. Leadership from above can take us only mid-term challenge is water security, as defined by our so far in this context—decision makers are unlikely to ability to protect water quality and meet growing make those decisions without broad support from an demands. The most immediate challenge is air pollution’s informed public. This is particularly true when the legal threat to public health. Millions of Californians are framework and technological means for meeting air exposed to unhealthy air now, not tomorrow or in quality standards fall short in the face of a unique decades to come. The common denominator for all three regional environment. threats is the global technostructure, as defined by our carbon-based energy system, our modes of The report is written from an interdisciplinary academic transportation, our level of consumption, the dependence perspective that integrates key elements of environmental of our economic system on continued growth, and our geography, political science, and economics in assessing material expectations of the good life. this important public health issue.3 4 5 From this perspective, the health impact from Valley air pollution is The natural features of the San Joaquin Valley make it a socially constructed outcome of incompatibility much more vulnerable to air pollution relative to other between the distinct environment of the region and the regional air basins. Surrounded by mountains that “one size fits all” air quality policy model established restrict air movement, concentrate air pollutants, under the federal Clean Air Act (CAA). Tension around promote thermal inversions, and efficiently produce this contradiction is magnified by the rapid growth of ozone, the San Joaquin Valley is confronting one of the emission sources in the region. As currently most severe air pollution management challenges in the implemented, this federal legislation arguably fails to nation. According to opinion research, this vulnerability provide “equal protection of the air” to residents of the to air pollution is reflected in the strong concern San Joaquin Valley. These conditions also drive and expressed by Valley residents about the threat of air perpetuate market failure, defined as the incapacity of pollution.2 market transactions to fully capture the environmental Yet, as will be shown, only a very small fraction of impacts of producing goods and services. The report also borrows a page from Michael Shellenberger and Ted 1 Central Valley Health Policy Institute California State University, Fresno California State University, Fresno 1 The San Joaquin Valley lies within the jurisdiction of eight counties: Fresno, Kern, Kings, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare. 2 (2007) Baldassare, M., et al. Californians and the Environment. Public Nordhaus in setting forward a constructive critique Policy Institute of California. San Francisco, July. of the strategies and tactics adopted by public The Valley Air Quality interest advocates.6 3 For environmental (aka nature-society) geography see: (1995) Turner II, B. Quandary: Balancing L. Spirals, Bridges, and Tunnels: Engaging Human-Environment Perspectives in Geography? Ecumene 4(2): 196-217. The challenge of sustainable development on a Public Concern with regional scale provides an important context for the 4 For political science see: (2007) Rosenbaum, Walter A. Environmental Politics and Policy. CQ Press, Washington, D.C. report. Meeting this standard entails the difficult task Policy Reform of resolving the tensions between the “Three E’s” - 5 For economics see: (1958) Bator, Francis M. The Anatomy of Market equity, economy, and environment. In short, how to Of all regions in the nation the San Joaquin Valley Failure. The Quarterly Journal of Economics 72(3): 351-379. restore Valley air quality without creating an unfair faces one of the most marked combinations of 6 See The Death of Environmentalism: Global Warming Politics in a distribution of costs to certain communities, while at environmental degradation and poverty. The fertile Post-Environmental World. Available at http://www.thebreakthrough.org/. the same time expanding economic opportunity in irrigated soils of the Valley have made it, acre for the Valley? While the report does not attempt a acre, one of the most productive agricultural regions comprehensive treatment of this issue, the reader is in
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Impact of Air Pollution Controls on Radiation Fog Frequency in the Central Valley of California
    RESEARCH ARTICLE Impact of Air Pollution Controls on Radiation Fog 10.1029/2018JD029419 Frequency in the Central Valley of California Special Section: Ellyn Gray1 , S. Gilardoni2 , Dennis Baldocchi1 , Brian C. McDonald3,4 , Fog: Atmosphere, biosphere, 2 1,5 land, and ocean interactions Maria Cristina Facchini , and Allen H. Goldstein 1Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management, Division of Ecosystem Sciences, University of 2 Key Points: California, Berkeley, CA, USA, Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate ‐ National Research Council (ISAC‐CNR), • Central Valley fog frequency Bologna, BO, Italy, 3Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Science, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, increased 85% from 1930 to 1970, USA, 4Chemical Sciences Division, NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO, USA, 5Department of Civil then declined 76% in the last 36 and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA winters, with large short‐term variability • Short‐term fog variability is dominantly driven by climate Abstract In California's Central Valley, tule fog frequency increased 85% from 1930 to 1970, then fluctuations declined 76% in the last 36 winters. Throughout these changes, fog frequency exhibited a consistent • ‐ Long term temporal and spatial north‐south trend, with maxima in southern latitudes. We analyzed seven decades of meteorological data trends in fog are dominantly driven by changes in air pollution and five decades of air pollution data to determine the most likely drivers changing fog, including temperature, dew point depression, precipitation, wind speed, and NOx (oxides of nitrogen) concentration. Supporting Information: Climate variables, most critically dew point depression, strongly influence the short‐term (annual) • Supporting Information S1 variability in fog frequency; however, the frequency of optimal conditions for fog formation show no • Table S1 • Table S2 observable trend from 1980 to 2016.
    [Show full text]
  • 4.9 Biological Resources
    METROPOLITAN BAKERSFIELD METROPOLITAN BAKERSFIELD GENERAL PLAN UPDATE EIR 4.9 BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES The purpose of this Section is to identify existing biological resources within the Metropolitan Bakersfield area. In addition, this Section provides an assessment of biological resources (including sensitive species) impacts that may result from implementation of the General Plan Update references General Plan goals and policies, and, where necessary, recommends mitigation measures to reduce the significance of impacts. This Section describes the biological character of the site in terms of vegetation, flora, wildlife, and wildlife habitats and analyzes the biological significance of the site in view of Federal, State and local laws and policies. ENVIRONMENTAL SETTING The study area for the Metropolitan Bakersfield General Plan Update encompasses 408 square miles of the southern portion of the San Joaquin Valley, the southernmost basin of the Central Valley of California. Prior to industrial, agricultural and urban development, the San Joaquin Valley comprised a variety of ecological communities. Runoff from the surrounding mountains fostered hardwood and riparian forests, marshes and grassland communities. Away from the influence of the mountain runoff, several distinct dryland communities of grasses and shrubs developed along gradients of rainfall, soil texture and soil alkalinity, providing a mosaic of habitats for the assemblage of endemic plants and animals. Agriculture, urban development and oil/gas extraction have resulted in many changes in the natural environment of the San Joaquin Valley. For example, lakes and wetlands in the delta area have been drained and diverted, native plant and animal species have been lost and a decrease in the acreage of native lands has occurred.
    [Show full text]
  • Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department
    Annex K: COSUMNES COMMUNITY SERVICES DISTRICT FIRE DEPARTMENT K.1 Introduction This Annex details the hazard mitigation planning elements specific to the Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department (Cosumnes Fire Department or CFD), a participating jurisdiction to the Sacramento County LHMP Update. This annex is not intended to be a standalone document, but appends to and supplements the information contained in the base plan document. As such, all sections of the base plan, including the planning process and other procedural requirements apply to and were met by the District. This annex provides additional information specific to the Cosumnes Fire District, with a focus on providing additional details on the risk assessment and mitigation strategy for this community. K.2 Planning Process As described above, the Cosumnes Fire Department followed the planning process detailed in Section 3.0 of the base plan. In addition to providing representation on the Sacramento County Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee (HMPC), the City formulated their own internal planning team to support the broader planning process requirements. Internal planning participants included staff from the following departments: Fire Operations Fire Prevention CSD Administration CSD GIS K.3 Community Profile The community profile for the CFD is detailed in the following sections. Figure K.1 displays a map and the location of the CFD boundaries within Sacramento County. Sacramento County (Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department) Annex K.1 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update September 2011 Figure K.1. CFD Borders Source: CFD Sacramento County (Cosumnes Community Services District Fire Department) Annex K.2 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan Update September 2011 K.3.1 Geography and Climate Cosumnes Fire Department which provides all risk emergency services to the cities of Elk Grove, and Galt.
    [Show full text]
  • Modeling the Evolution and Life Cycle of Radiative Cold Pools and Fog
    FEBRUARY 2018 W I L S O N A N D F O V E L L 203 Modeling the Evolution and Life Cycle of Radiative Cold Pools and Fog TRAVIS H. WILSON AND ROBERT G. FOVELL Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California (Manuscript received 30 July 2017, in final form 14 December 2017) ABSTRACT Despite an increased understanding of the physical processes involved, forecasting radiative cold pools and their associated meteorological phenomena (e.g., fog and freezing rain) remains a challenging problem in mesoscale models. The present study is focused on California’s tule fog where the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) Model’s frequent inability to forecast these events is addressed and substantially im- proved. Specifically, this was accomplished with four major changes from a commonly employed, default configuration. First, horizontal model diffusion and numerical filtering along terrain slopes was deactivated (or mitigated) since it is unphysical and can completely prevent the development of fog. However, this often resulted in unrealistically persistent foggy boundary layers that failed to lift. Next, changes specific to the Yonsei University (YSU) planetary boundary layer (PBL) scheme were adopted that include using the ice– liquid-water potential temperature uil to determine vertical stability, a reversed eddy mixing K profile to represent the consequences of negatively buoyant thermals originating near the fog (PBL) top, and an ad- ditional entrainment term to account for the turbulence generated by cloud-top (radiative and evaporative) cooling. While other changes will be discussed, it is these modifications that create, to a sizable degree, marked improvements in modeling the evolution and life cycle of fog, low stratus clouds, and adiabatic cold pools.
    [Show full text]
  • Summer 2019 Newsletter
    Summer 2019 Newsletter 2B Tech's Portable Mercury Monitor: Developing a New Version for Use in the Oil and Gas Industry SBIR Grant from NIH/NIEHS Will Lead to Explosion-Proof Instrument 2B Tech is working hard to revolutionize the way mercury vapor is measured in air. Over the past ~2 years, we developed the HERMES Personal Mercury Monitor, the smallest and most accurate mercury instrument on the market today. The hand-held HERMES can operate for 5-8 hours on its lithium-ion battery, or can use line power. The next step is to make a version of the instrument that is suitable for use in the oil and gas industry, where maintenance workers can be exposed to high levels of mercury during periodic inspections of natural gas compressors and other equipment used to process gas and oil. In this case, not only must the instrument be small and easily operated--it must be The HERMES Personal Mercury Monitor, explosion proof. Any spark from the internal electronics of an weighing in at less than a pound, instrument could be disastrous in a work area where measures mercury in air via UV absorbance at 254 nanometers. A hydrocarbon fumes are pervasive. detection limit of 0.2 micrograms Hg per cubic meter is achieved in the 10- The research is made possible by a Small Business Innovative second measurement mode. Research (SBIR) grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIH/NIEHS). Phase 1, completed in 2018, led to the HERMES instrument pictured above and now on our website.
    [Show full text]
  • Delta Narratives-Saving the Historical and Cultural Heritage of The
    Delta Narratives: Saving the Historical and Cultural Heritage of The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Delta Narratives: Saving the Historical and Cultural Heritage of The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta A Report to the Delta Protection Commission Prepared by the Center for California Studies California State University, Sacramento August 1, 2015 Project Team Steve Boilard, CSU Sacramento, Project Director Robert Benedetti, CSU Sacramento, Co-Director Margit Aramburu, University of the Pacific, Co-Director Gregg Camfield, UC Merced Philip Garone, CSU Stanislaus Jennifer Helzer, CSU Stanislaus Reuben Smith, University of the Pacific William Swagerty, University of the Pacific Marcia Eymann, Center for Sacramento History Tod Ruhstaller, The Haggin Museum David Stuart, San Joaquin County Historical Museum Leigh Johnsen, San Joaquin County Historical Museum Dylan McDonald, Center for Sacramento History Michael Wurtz, University of the Pacific Blake Roberts, Delta Protection Commission Margo Lentz-Meyer, Capitol Campus Public History Program, CSU Sacramento Those wishing to cite this report should use the following format: Delta Protection Commission, Delta Narratives: Saving the Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, prepared by the Center for California Studies, California State University, Sacramento (West Sacramento: Delta Protection Commission, 2015). Those wishing to cite the scholarly essays in the appendix should adopt the following format: Author, "Title of Essay", in Delta Protection Commission, Delta Narratives: Saving the Historical and Cultural Heritage of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, prepared by the Center for California Studies, California State University, Sacramento (West Sacramento: Delta Protection Commission, 2015), appropriate page or pages. Cover Photo: Sign installed by Discover the Delta; art by Marty Stanley; Photo taken by Philip Garone.
    [Show full text]
  • Wolf Creek Fact Sheet
    ABOUT WOLF CREEK Geography and Biogeography • The watershed, which encompasses about 78 square miles (~50,000 acres), is almost exclusively in the lower montane zone, with altitudes along the creek’s 25-mile length ranging from 3000 feet at the headwaters to approximately 1200 feet at the conFluence with the Bear River. Most other Sierran watersheds of at least this size originate at much higher elevations. • The lower-montane altitude oF the watershed means that snow constitutes a small—and declining— proportion of the precipitation Falling in the watershed. In this way it models the future of watersheds such as Deer Creek and the Yuba, as the snow pack continues to recede toward the higher elevations. • The Wolf Creek watershed occupies a narrow, biotically diverse band of elevation between the tule fog of the Central Valley and the alpine cold of the higher elevations. This is the zone where the blue oak and gray pine woodlands of the lower Foothills gradually transition into the Ponderosa pine-dominated mixed evergreen forests that characterize the middle elevations of the Sierra Nevada. • Unlike most other west-slope Sierran streams and rivers (which flow east to west), Wolf Creek flows primarily along a north–south axis. In comparison to east–west streams, this geographic positioning gives much more of the land a southern or partially southern exposure and thus the ability to support the most productive and diverse ecosystems. • Populations of indigenous people in the WolF Creek watershed were relatively high because of the land’s productivity and biodiversity. • In most watersheds that include urbanized areas, cities and towns are usually at the bottom end of the watershed, at elevations significantly lower than the head waters.
    [Show full text]
  • California DOT Fog Detection and Warning System
    Best Practices for Road Weather Management Version 3.0 California DOT Fog Detection and Warning System California’s Great Central Valley suffers from Tule fog. It is a thick ground fog which reduces visibility to one hundred feet or less that settles in the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley areas of California's Great Central Valley. Tule fog forms during the late autumn and winter (California's rainy season) after the first significant rainfall. This phenomenon is named after the tule grass wetlands (Tulare’s) of the Central Valley. Accidents caused by the tule fog are the leading cause of weather-related traffic accidents in California. In response the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) contracted ICx Transportation to build and integrate a fog detection and warning system along a 13-mile section of the California Highway 99 corridor in the central part of the state. The system was completed in 2009. California’s Central Valley—extending from Bakersfield in the south to Redding in the north—is one of the country’s largest agricultural regions. It is also a major transportation corridor, with Interstate 5 and California Highway 99 (CA-99) running through the valley. CA-99 in Fresno in the project area carries more than 100,000 vehicles per day. The region is subject to a particularly dense kind of fog, known as Tule fog, during the winter. In fog season, which runs roughly from November 1 to March 31, Tule fog can form overnight and reduce visibility to less than an eighth of a mile, and in some cases to nearly zero.
    [Show full text]
  • Tule Fog - Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia
    Tule fog - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia New features Log in / create account Article Discussion Read Edit View history Search Tule fog From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Main page Tule fog (pronounced /ˈtuːliː/) is a thick ground fog that Contents settles in the San Joaquin Valley and Sacramento Valley Featured content areas of California's Great Central Valley. Tule fog forms Current events during the late fall and winter (California's rainy season) Random article after the first significant rainfall. The official time frame for Interaction tule fog to form is from November 1 to March 31. This About Wikipedia phenomenon is named after the tule grass wetlands Community portal (tulares) of the Central Valley. Accidents caused by the Recent changes tule fog are the leading cause of weather-related casualties Dense Tule fog in Bakersfield, Contact Wikipedia in California. California. Visibility in this photo is less Donate to Wikipedia than 500 feet. Contents [hide] Help 1 Formation Toolbox 2 Visibility 3 Freezing drizzle and black ice Danielsen, Print/export Otto 4 References 2, 2010 5 External links v. Rederieton July in Stacy archived Cited [edit] Formation09-15579 No. This section does not cite any references or sources. Tule fog settled on an orchard in Please help improve this article by Stanislaus County in late December. adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2010) Tule fog is a radiation fog, which condenses when there is a high relative humidity (typically after a heavy rain), calm winds, and rapid cooling during the night. The nights are longer in the winter months, which creates rapid ground cooling, and thereby a pronounced temperature inversion at a low altitude.
    [Show full text]
  • Anonymous Referee #1 I Find This Manuscript Much Improved Over the Previous Version
    Anonymous Referee #1 I find this manuscript much improved over the previous version. I appreciate that the authors responded actively to most of the critical comments that I made in my earlier review. I am still worrying about the single case simulation to derive the conclusion. I would like to see the simulation results for other fog cases besides Tule fog case, because we do not know how the modified SOWC model simulates other fog cases under different meteorological condition and how the modified radiation scheme affects the fog formation. The authors just speculate the expected results as following (“Thus, for other fog cases the results might be different because the model can perform differently, better or worse, but we expect that the conclusion will be similar, if fog is successfully simulated”). However, I will leave the decision to the editor. Reply: The authors appreciate the reviewer’s suggestions. We would very much like to extend our study to fog cases under different weather conditions over other regions to have a more robust conclusion on how aerosol mixing states affect fog formation and the radiation budget. However, to run a case at a different region requires a significant amount of effort. Aerosols in California have been carefully investigated using the SOWC model (Joe et al., 2014; Zhang et al., 2014). Thus the model gives more creditability to study a Tule fog event in California. While the WRF model has been well tested under different weather conditions over different regions in the world, we still need reliable emission data and reasonable air pollution simulations over a new region before we study a fog event there.
    [Show full text]
  • San Joaquin River NWR Comprehensive Conservation Plan I Mosquito Abatement
    U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge San Joaquin River National Wildlife Plan Conservation Comprehensive Final San Joaquin River National Wildlife Refuge San Luis NWR Complex San Joaquin River 947-C West Pacheco Blvd. Los Banos, CA 93635 Telephone: 209/826-3508 National Wildlife Refuge Fax: 209/826-1445 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 1 (800) 344-WILD Final Comprehensive Conservation Plan June 2007 Photo: USFWS/L. Eastman SJFCCP-cover_final.indd 1 5/22/2007 9:38:02 AM This page is intentionally left blank. Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................1 Background ..................................................................................................................................2 Purpose and Need for a Plan .....................................................................................................3 Refuge Purpose and Authority .................................................................................................4 Refuge Vision Statement ...........................................................................................................4 Location and Size of the Refuge ...............................................................................................4 Ownership ....................................................................................................................................5 Refuge Acquisition History .......................................................................................................5
    [Show full text]
  • Modeling Cold Pools in California's Central Valley Travis Wilson and Robert Fovell
    Modeling Cold Pools in California's Central Valley Travis Wilson ∗ and Robert Fovell Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles ABSTRACT Despite our increased understanding in the relevant physical processes, forecasting radiative cold pools and their associated meteorological phenomena (e.g., fog and freezing rain) remains a challenging problem in mesoscale models. The present study is focused on California's Tule fog where the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model's inability to forecast the event is addressed and substantially improved. An intra-model physics ensemble reveals that no current physics is able to properly capture the Tule fog and that model revisions are necessary. It has been found that revisions to the height of the lowest model level in addition to reconsideration of horizontal diffusion and surface-atmospheric coupling are critical for accurately forecasting the onset and duration of these events. 1. Introduction Planning and Standards (Baker et al. 2011). The meteo- rological conditions associated with cold pools create stag- Whiteman et al. (2001) defined a cold pool as a to- nant air that cannot mix out vertically due to capping in- pographically confined, stagnant layer of air overlaid by versions. This increases ozone or PM2.5 (particulate mat- warmer air aloft. A dramatic and well known example is ter with diameter <2.5 um) concentrations that can exceed the Tule fog of California's heavily populated Central Val- the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) in ley (CV), of which can persist for several days. If a cold many parts of the Western United States including, but pool last longer than one diurnal cycle it is classified as not limited to, the Pacific Northwest, the Central Valley of a persistent cold pool, whereas diurnal cold pools form at California, and Great Basin (Gillies et al.
    [Show full text]