Meteorological Conditions Impacting Observations of Ship Emissions during OWLETS

Reliably observing and contextualizing emission plumes, both natural and anthropogenic, has long been a focus of air quality research activities. However, observations are often hindered by changing local environmental conditions, which lead to a number of events going unobserved. Fully understanding the impact environmental conditions can have on the ability to observe emission plumes and their associated environmental effects can help future air quality missions best prepare for capturing these key events. During the 2017 and 2018 Ozone Water-Land Environmental Transition Studies (OWLETS), it is conservatively estimated that upwards of 500 total oceangoing vessels may have passed through the study area over two 50 day intensive observation periods. Thus, we stratify the large ocean-going vessel emissions by virtue of meteorological context (i.e. local, meso-, and synoptic scales). Additionally, descriptive statistics of vessel passage and plume detection are presented. Once stratified, we provide a characterization of the chemistry associated with emission plume cases as observed by ensembled ground-based and in-situ platforms. We find that coincident occurences of ship emissions and meteorological conditions necessary for detection were not always present. Further, these findings may provide insight to improving state, regional, and national emission inventories.