Tracking Ship Emissions from Source to Community
A first-of-its-kind research effort to understand how cargo ship emissions affect air quality and health in San Pedro. This project combines direct vessel testing, drone-based plume sampling, community air monitoring, and advanced air modeling to trace pollution from ocean-going vessels to the neighborhoods most affected by port activity.
About the Rose Foundation Project
Communities near major port operations often face higher exposure to air pollution from cargo shipping. This project focuses on understanding how emissions from ocean-going vessels move from ship engines into nearby neighborhoods—and what that means for local air quality and public health.
Led by UC Riverside’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), the study combines direct measurements, community monitoring, and air modeling to track pollution from where it is produced to the places people live. The goal is to create a clearer, more complete picture of how shipping-related emissions impact environmental justice communities and to support more informed solutions moving forward.
This project brings together researchers and community organizations working to better understand and improve air quality in port-adjacent communities. The research team includes experts in emissions measurement, air quality monitoring, drone-based sampling, and atmospheric modeling, along with UC Riverside researchers and students, drone operations specialists, and air quality analysts. Together, they bring decades of experience studying emissions from ocean-going vessels and their impacts on communities.
This work is funded through a coalition of community advocacy organizations, including the Coalition for Clean Air, East Yard Communities for Environmental Justice, Natural Resources Defense Council, San Pedro Peninsula Homeowners United, and the San Pedro and Peninsula Homeowners Coalition, and is administered by the Rose Foundation.
AT THE SOURCE
Researchers measure emissions directly from ship engines during real-world operations near the coastline. These measurements include nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and hazardous air pollutants such as carbonyls, aromatics, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. This work helps build detailed chemical fingerprints of ship emissions across different engine types and operating conditions.
IN THE AIR
A specialized drone platform is used to enter ship plumes and capture emissions as they move through the air. This approach allows researchers to measure far more vessels than traditional onboard testing and expands the dataset to include up to 100 or more ships over the course of the project. It also provides insight into how pollution behaves after it leaves the source.
IN THE COMMUNITY
Monitoring sites in San Pedro measure the air within the community to better understand what residents are breathing. These sites track particulate matter, black carbon, carbonyls, VOCs, PAHs, and other chemical markers associated with ship emissions. The result is long-term, place-based data that reflects real neighborhood conditions.
THROUGH MODELING
Atmospheric modeling is used to connect community air measurements back to their likely sources. By analyzing how air masses move over time, researchers can distinguish between marine and land-based pollution and better understand how emissions from shipping influence local air quality.