Atmospheric Chemistry- Ground Level Ozone
Posted: Mon Sep 25, 2006 12:49 pm
Does anyone know any atmospheric chemists around San Jose that could help me out with my project?
Are fastplants a good test subject for my project, and work just as well as an actual agriculturally important crop like cabbage?
All this started as a pursuit of a question, which over time became more complicated and is now: How much would ground level ozone affect biomass in a vital crop of southern Africa/Thailand (where ground level ozone is relatively high, though not as high as LA, of course.), and how big would the difference be in the amount of people able to be sustained now as opposed to with no photochemical smog at all?
Ground level ozone is ozone in the troposphere (the stuff you breath), not the stratosphere. In the stratosphere, it protects us from sun cancer. In the troposphere, it kills us in high concentrations, but usually makes you cough, wheeze, and just overall have a bad day, unless you have asthma, then you have a very bad day at 0.14ppm ozone. It is produced in urban areas where Nitrogen oxides and VOCs react. But the crops are grown in rural areas, right? Well, photochemical smog drifts. 1 million $$ annual damage in LA area.
I wanted to experiment with growing plants exposed to ozone.
Are fastplants a good test subject for my project, and work just as well as an actual agriculturally important crop like cabbage?
All this started as a pursuit of a question, which over time became more complicated and is now: How much would ground level ozone affect biomass in a vital crop of southern Africa/Thailand (where ground level ozone is relatively high, though not as high as LA, of course.), and how big would the difference be in the amount of people able to be sustained now as opposed to with no photochemical smog at all?
Ground level ozone is ozone in the troposphere (the stuff you breath), not the stratosphere. In the stratosphere, it protects us from sun cancer. In the troposphere, it kills us in high concentrations, but usually makes you cough, wheeze, and just overall have a bad day, unless you have asthma, then you have a very bad day at 0.14ppm ozone. It is produced in urban areas where Nitrogen oxides and VOCs react. But the crops are grown in rural areas, right? Well, photochemical smog drifts. 1 million $$ annual damage in LA area.
I wanted to experiment with growing plants exposed to ozone.
Using fast-growing plants along with agricultural plants would actually increase the significance of your project.