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| A look out Clarkson's own backyard. |
The focus of the Center for Air
Resources Engineering
and Science (CARES) is to provide a better and more
complete scientific basis for air quality management in New
York State including the understanding of the sources, transport,
and chemistry that give rise to indoor and outdoor exposure
to air pollutants including noise, their potential health
and welfare effects, and ways in which these effects can
be reduced or eliminated.
CARES brings together the world-class expertise
that is available at Clarkson. This expertise is focused
in air sampling and analysis, receptor modeling, atmospheric
deposition, and the application of computational fluid dynamics
to air pollution problems.
CARES interacts with Syracuse University, Cornell University,
the University of Rochester, SUNY ESF, SUNY UMU, SUNY Albany,
SUNY Buffalo, The Upstate Freshwater Institute, and the Institute
for Ecosystems Studies through the NYSTAR Environmental Quality
Systems Center at Syracuse. Although each institution has
their own focused research mission, there are important intersections
of their strengths that CARES can utilize to provide a base
to build an integrated, state-wide research center to focus
the expertise on air quality issues. By enhancing already
existing capabilities and forging active collaborative alliances,
we can provide critical new information on air resources
and innovative new approaches for managing indoor and outdoor
air quality within a competitive economic environment.
The presence of contaminants in the atmosphere can produce
a wide variety of adverse effects including increased mortality
and morbidity in the public, deterioration of buildings and
monuments, acidification of lakes and rivers, and forest
and crop damage. The health effects of atmospheric contaminants
cannot be avoided by staying inside since ambient air is
transported indoors along with its pollutants while indoor
sources can add to the problems.
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CARES
in The News |
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Mobile
Air Quality Health Effects Lab in Buffalo (courtesy
of WIVB TV)
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Mobile
Air Quality Health Effects Lab in Buffalo (courtesy
of WKBW TV)
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Although we have substantially improved the ambient air
quality over the past 30 years, there are still a number
of problems that are attributed to air pollution. Recent
studies have found strong correlations between changes in
particle concentrations and increased mortality. There has
been a sharp rise in childhood asthma which has been linked
with air pollution, but its causes are as yet unknown.
Clarkson University already has significant intellectual
resources to bring to bear on the problems of air pollution.
A new center, the Center for Air Resources Engineering and
Science, has been formed to bring together a consortium of
investigators to provide the focus and coordination to measure,
model, and suggest implementation strategies that will lead
to improved atmospheric conditions including the ambient
atmosphere, indoor atmospheres in homes and hospitals, and
controlled atmospheres in commercial manufacturing operations.
In this process, we will develop new modeling, measurement,
and flow management tools that can provide the base for new
or expanded commercial ventures as well as providing critical
information to State and Federal regulatory authorities that
will help to improve the quality of life for New Yorkers.
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