Meredith Nichols

What is the Impact of Oil & Natural Gas Operations on US Air Quality?

• Compared ground, flight and satellite data at 4 of the NASA DISCOVER-AQ campaign locations (Maryland-July 2011, California-Jan. 2013, Texas-Sept. 2013, Colorado-July 2014).

• Analyze different trace gases to interpret the source of methane (i.e. carbon dioxide-transportation pollution, larger concentrations of methane indicate possibility of drilling while lower localized methane concentrations indicate wetlands).

• Special Thanks to Dr. Anne Thompson and Dr. Debra Kollonige, my mentors at NASA GSFC and ESSIC.

Figure 1: Methanol profile from NASA P3B flight.

Figure 2: Ability to detect forest fires.

Figure 3: The warmer colors indicate areas where methane values are larger, which happens to occur in several areas of natural gas production.

Figure 4: Methane profile from NASA P3B flight.