Setting the timers for collection of hydrocarbon or volatile organic compound (VOC) samples at the Roosevelt site. Photo by Randy Martin.

Feb. 18, by Dr. Randy Martin, Utah State University. Dr. Gabrielle Patron’s description of the wintertime ozone study in the Utah’s Uintah Basin have detailed the goals and some of the measurements that have been conducted by NOAA, CIRES, and cooperating investigators, and it is my pleasure to describe some of the work that the Utah State University (USU), USU Energy Dynamics Laboratory, and the Utah Division of Air Quality have brought to the study.  Our group is responsible for two tasks within the overall study: 1) set up and maintenance of about two dozen ozone monitors distributed throughout the entire Uintah Basin and 2) establishing long-term air quality monitoring stations at Horse Pool – the production field site of most of the NOAA and CIRES studies at Roosevelt and one of the main population centers within the Basin.

The distributed ozone sites are designed define the spread and extent of the ozone pollution within the air shed and serve to validate a similar study, but more limited, which we conducted last year.  We have also added week-long exposure samplers at some of the distributed sites to get a general idea of the distribution of the so-called “precursor” species which lead to ozone formation, namely oxides of nitrogen (NO_x) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).  The long term Horse Pool and Roosevelt sites, at which we monitor many of the same parameters as the NOAA and CIRES investigators, will operate well past the February focus of the bulk of the larger study, and are planned to keep collecting data for the next two or three years to examine longer-term trends and season-to-season visibilities.

Even though the “wintertime” study this year has been short on winter, many of the investigators have uncovered fascinating, interesting, and sometimes unexpected findings about the air quality and meteorology of the Uintah Basin.  Additionally, it has given us investigators the amazing opportunity to work on a very unique air quality issue in an interesting outdoor setting with an incredible variety of extremely intelligent and entertaining collaborators.

Prairie dog, photo by Randy Martin.

Bobcat, photo by Randy Martin

What have we seen so far, you may ask, besides some amazing wildlife and landscapes?

One of the missions of the van is to help characterize the specific emissions signature of various sources. When we go for drives, we sample air on the road to look at traffic emissions and we zigzag around on the dirt roads to collect air samples downwind of well and oil pads, compressor stations, and processing plants. There is also a large power plant in the region called Bonanza. Its huge panache of steam tells us something about how turbulent the atmosphere surface layer is and where the wind is blowing.

Every day we learn something about the oil and gas Basin. A few days ago, I learned that this region has been producing oil and gas for over 60 years. Today, I learned that a number of the pumping jacks that pump the oil out of the ground use the associated natural gas collocated with the oil 5,000 to 6,000 ft below the surface.

mobile laboratory

The NOAA Mobile Lab has been perusing the dirt roads of the oil and gas fields of the Uinta Basin for almost two weeks now. Most days so far have been in the upper 40s… today was the first day I had to wear a jacket… the wind was cold. Yet, we are still waiting for the snow to come. This morning it looked promising for a short while. When we got up at 6am to get ready to meet with a QEP representative for a tour of different operations in the Basin, it was snowing in Vernal! We ended up with just a few flakes here and as we drove south, it became clear, the oil and gas fields South of Vernal were spared. Guessing when and if the snow will come is a game we do not play. Scientists and the local and state government are so anxious to experience at least one inversion event this winter before everybody packs up their instruments and goes back home.

The valiant Mobile Lab is becoming part of the scenery it seems in the Basin. Sometimes, drivers stop and kindly ask if we need some help when we are parked on the side of a road taking air samples. It feels like the people who work in the oil and gas industry are like a community, always ready to help each other. The van sticks out though, as our QEP host told us today. Almost everyone who works in the Basin has a white pick-up truck… so yes, our Mobile Lab is definitely noticeable especially with the extended arm we have sticking out and holding the sampling tubes and inlets.

Scientists assemble an instrument tower for the Uintah Basin winter ozone study. Photo by David Oonk, CIRES

CIRES and NOAA have published a video about what we are trying to achieve in Utah’s Uintah Basin. Ozone pollution is a health concern. We’d like to understand exactly why it forms in high levels at times in the winter (ozone is more typically thought of as a summertime air pollutant, in big cities with lots of traffic). Check out our introductory video.