Majoring in Environmental Science with a minor in French, Molly came to CMMAP
from Colorado College. A senior, her research interests are computer modeling
and atmospheric chemistry. She is also interested in developing alternative
energy sources.
With increasing pollution in Eastern Asia come increasing concerns regarding the
final destination of that pollution. Previous studies have shown that aerosol
pollution produced in East Asia can reach the western United States, although
in minimal amounts (Heald et al., 2006). This research looks at a long-term
sulfate record from Mauna Loa, in Hawaii, to determine if the sulfate levels in
this nearly pristine environment have been changing over time.
Long-range transport from Asia was found to occur from December through May by
calculating back trajectories in HYSPLIT. This result is in concordance with
previous research, which suggests spring as the major transport season (Perry
et al., 1999; Prospero et al., 2003). The sulfate measurements themselves, which
peak in the spring, also suggest the importance of this season in long-range
transport from East Asia. Average spring sulfate measurements were found to have
increased by ~6% per year from 1993 to 2008 (p = 0.038), while average summer
sulfate measurements did not increase significantly (p = 0.242) over the same
time period. These results suggest that there is a perceptible Asian influence
on sulfate levels at Mauna Loa, and that the Asian contribution to these levels
is increasing.
Seasonal variability at 300 mb is shown to be consistent with the
tropopause-based methods in Birner (2010). Seasonal variability patterns for
the tropical belt width at low- and mid-levels (e.g. 700 mb, 500 mb,
respectively.) are shown to be notably different. Most notably, the variability
pattern at the southern edge is shown to differ greatly from the pattern at the
northern edge.
Molly's summer research poster,
Free Tropospheric Aerosols Measured at Mauna Loa: Sources and Trends; Do you know where your sulfate's been?, may be found here (7MB).
In her free time, Molly enjoys reading, puzzles and going on walks.
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