Dr.
Gary A. Morris
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Research Projects
My current research involves 3 main projects:
1) Tropospheric Ozone Pollution
2) Ozone Loss in the Arctic Stratosphere
3) Research in Physics Education (RIPE)
Tropospheric Ozone Pollution
Houston was named the most polluted city in the nation for the year 2000
due to frequently high levels of ozone at the surface due to urban pollution.
While the ground-level ozone is well monitored, profiles of ozone above
the city are not. We are developing two research projects to address the
current deficiency: an ozonesonde station and a tropospheric ozone lidar
laboratory.
We will establish an ozonesonde station to make routine measurements of the ozone profiles in the Houston area. Inexpensive balloons and expendible payloads will provide data on the amount of ozone in the boundary layer as well as the free troposphere. This data will be useful in evaluating the extend of the ozone pollution problem in Houston as well as serving as a validation tool for other remote sensing data.
We are applying for funding to establish a tropospheric ozone lidar laboratory. The lidar system employes and ultra-violet laser system to probe the distribution of ozone in the lower atmosphere. Unlike the ozonesondes which only produce one profile per balloon, the lidar can make nearly continuous measurements. Such data will be useful in tracking ozone pollution and developing a better understanding of the causes and diurnal behavior of Houston's ozone pollution.
Currently, NASA has loaned us two instruments useful in measuring ozone: a ground ultra-violet station that sits atop Fondren Library measuring ultra-violet flux and the hand-held Microtops instruments, portable devices that allow for easy measurement of total column ozone.
These projects involve collaborators at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center and Rice University.