Research Plan for “next Generation Environmental Chamber Facility for Chemical Mechanism and Voc Reactivity Evaluation

A critical component for predictions of formation of ozone and other secondary pollutant formation in the atmosphere is the chemical mechanism, i.e., the portion of the airshed models used to represent the chemical reactions involved. This is because the chemistry is the source of much of the complexity and non-linearity involved. Because many of the chemical reactions are incompletely understood, these mechanisms cannot be relied upon to give accurate predictions of impacts on emissions on air quality in the atmosphere until they have been shown to give accurate predictions of pollutant concentrations under realistic but controlled conditions. The most costeffective and reliable way to test the accuracy of the chemical mechanisms is to compare their predictions against results of environmental chamber experiments that simulate the range of conditions in the atmosphere. If a model cannot accurately predict observed changes in pollutant levels in such experiments, it cannot be expected to reliably predict effects of proposed control strategies on ambient air quality.