Researchers Air Out Smog Test at CSUN

When it came to measuring smog Tuesday, the unbearable heat worked out just fine.

Weather balloons used in a $5-million study to determine how to combat smog were launched into the hot air at Cal State Northridge by researchers with the California Air Resources Board.

One reason the heat helped was that normally there is more stagnant smog on hot days than on cool ones, according to Richard Varenchik, the board’s public information officer.

Varenchik said the sunlight and heat cook the hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides released from vehicles and industry into the air. The stagnant air conditions and the “bowl-like” geography of Los Angeles hold smog in, essentially putting a lid on the area, he said.

The balloon launch, one in a series of experiments designed to learn how to fight smog, will test the levels and travel patterns of ozone, a colorless, lung-damaging pollutant.

“One of the main complaints in Southern California is the transport of smog,” Varenchik said. “Places like Palm Springs [and] San Diego complain that their smog is not theirs, but [is] brought by winds into their area. This gives us a better idea of how smog moves.”

The first launch of the weather balloons used in the study occurred Monday at various sites, including CSUN.

On Tuesday afternoon, three CSUN students released a helium-filled weather balloon and an “ozone box,” and began monitoring the balloon’s flight on a computer, studying the results up to two miles above ground and recording the information the box transmitted back.

Varenchik said the data was to be analyzed along with information from other launches. The launches will be repeated several times until the study is completed in mid-October, he said.