CalNex Trends

CalNexT is a major air quality study planned at Caltech. Emissions from vehicles have declined enormously in the US, and new electric vehicles will eliminate such emissions entirely. In contrast, organic emissions from stationary sources (industrial, residential, and biological) are not decreasing and may indeed increase as the variety of chemicals in use diversifies and global temperatures increase their evaporative loss. How this changing mix of emissions will impact air quality is highly uncertain. The CalNexT campaign will collect data to investigate the sources and reactivity of air pollutants, and highlight new challenges that complicate air quality management.