Evaluating Air Quality Effects of Urban Trees: Developing Directionally Sound Programs for Use in State Ozone Attainment Goals (NA-95-0318)

Development of a directionally sound program for using urban forestry in state ozone attainment goals.

Detailed analysis of urban forest cover, structure (i.e., species composition, tree size and condition) and air quality effects will be conducted for seven cities: Baltimore, MD; Baton Rouge, LA;Boston, MA; New York City, NY; Jersey City, NJ; Philadelphia, PA; and Camden, NJ. Urban forest structural information is necessary to quantify the air quality effects and will also provide good management information for the cities. Air quality effects will focus on pollution removal and volatile organic emissions by trees. Carbon sequestration by trees will also be calculated. The main focus of the project will be on the overall effects of trees on ozone in cities. Current and next generation state-of-the-science photochemical models will be used to quantitatively evaluate this overall effect. Model results will aid in developing directionally sound ozone programs, thereby creating cost-effective ozone control strategies using urban vegetation.