Page 10 - PR 2014 2016 08 Environmental Science and Technology

226 Environmental Science and Technology | Progress Report

Studies of trace gases and pletion in mid-2015. An ecological survey
greenhouse gases of urban including a biodiversity assessment has been

areas and remote areas conducted in the forest region surrounding
the site. Measurements of micrometeoro-
logical and atmospheric chemical variables
Modifications by Anthropogenic were initiated, in 2012, and their range has
Pollution of the Natural Atmospheric continued to broaden over the last few years.
Chemistry and Particle Microphysics The meteorological and micrometeorological
of the Tropical Rain Forest During the measurements include temperature and wind
GoAmazon (Green Ocean Amazon) profiles, precipitation, water and energy flux-

es, turbulence components, soil temperature
The GoAmazon campaign seeks to quantify profiles and soil heat fluxes, radiation fluxes,
and understand how aerosol and cloud life and visibility. A tree has been instrumented
cycles in a particularly clean background in to measure stem profiles of temperature, light
the tropics are influenced by pollutant outflow intensity, and water content in cryptogamic
from a large tropical city, all in the context of covers. The trace gas measurements comprise
addressing the susceptibility of cloud-aero- continuous monitoring of carbon dioxide, car-
sol-precipitation interactions to present-day bon monoxide, methane, and ozone at five to
and future pollution in the tropics. Within eight different heights, complemented by a
this context of GoAmazon, the overall goals variety of additional species measured during
of the proposed research are (i) to measure intensive campaigns (e.g., VOC, NO, NO , and
2
and mechanistically understand the factors OH reactivity). Aerosol optical, microphysical,
affecting the number-diameter distribution and chemical measurements are being made
n(d) of the atmospheric particle population above the canopy as well as in the canopy
over a tropical rain forest (especially the effects space. They include aerosol light scattering and
of anthropogenic pollution as a perturbation absorption, fluorescence, number and volume
to natural state) and (ii) to develop and imple- size distributions, chemical composition, cloud
ment an upscaling analysis from this new data condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations, and
set and knowledge of n(d) to prognosticate hygroscopicity. In this paper, we discuss the
possible climatic impacts of present-day urban scientific context of the ATTO observatory and
pollution and possibly greater pollution in the present an overview of results from ecological,
future. meteorological, and chemical pilot studies at
the ATTO site.
The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory
(ATTO): overview of pilot measurements Characterization of São Paulo
on ecosystem ecology, meteorology, contaminated areas by persistent organic
trace gases, and aerosols pollutants (POPs) and development
of a safe decomposition process
The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO)
has been set up in a pristine rain forest region Pesticides banned, obsolete or discarded con-
in the central Amazon Basin, about 150 km stitute a serious environmental risk around
northeast of the city of Manaus. Two 80m the world, especially in developing countries.
towers have been operated at the site, since Pesticides are among the compounds that
2012, and a 325m tower is nearing com- constitute the group of so-called POPs, or

Instituto de Pesquisas Energéticas e Nucleares