NOAA and CIRES lead airborne field campaign to look at climate and air quality impacts: “Vast regions west of the Mississippi River are under development for oil and gas extraction, and the associated equipment has become a familiar sight on any cross-country road trip or flight.  But while one focus is on what comes out of the ground, NOAA and Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) researchers and their colleagues are studying what escapes to the air—and how it is transformed in the atmosphere and affects air quality and climate.  The scientists are using a suite of state-of-the-art chemical instruments aboard a research aircraft this spring in the NOAA-led Shale Oil and Natural Gas Nexus (SONGNEX 2015) field campaign, to study the atmospheric effects of energy production in the western U.S. Domestic production of oil and natural gas is increasing, as technological advances in directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing (commonly called “fracking”) have made the production of oil and natural gas from tight sand and shale formations economically viable.  With the increased production comes increased emission of methane, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and other trace gases to the atmosphere…CIRES and NOAA research has shown that many different volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted in the production fields, and that the amount emitted depends greatly on the equipment and production practices in use.  The VOCs are key starting ingredients that lead to the production of ozone, a lower-atmosphere pollutant regulated because of its health effects.  Other chemical reactions transform the emissions and gases in the air into airborne fine particles, which are also an air quality issue.”