William Coulombe

Assistant Research Soil Scientist

Associate Research Scientist and Frits-Went Laboratory Manager

Email: Bill.Coulombe@dri.edu

Education

Professional Interests

Mr. Coulombe has been the Principle Investigator or Assistant Principle Investigator in numerous DRI projects. His areas of expertise involve project management; atmospheric measurements; data acquisition, processing, validation, and analysis; quality assurance (QA); and automotive studies. His experience in atmospheric measurements include: particles/aerosols (PM2.5, PM10, TSP, visibility), ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, wind speed/direction, temperature, dew point, relative humidity, solar radiation, barometric pressure, precipitation, chlorine, acoustic soundings, aerosols, continuous halocarbons, and organic compounds including dioxins.

Past professional experience includes:

• Data Auditor for projects, responsible for developing field data logger systems, automatic polling of field sites with automatic posting of data to websites for real time remote review.
• QA manager for the laboratory portion of the California Regional PM2.5/PM10 Air Quality Study.
• Quality Assurance Supervisor for the National Dry Deposition Network.
• External quality assurance auditing for the Acid Model Operations Diagnostic Evaluation Study, Navajo Generating Station Visibility Impairment Contribution Study, and the Joint San Joaquin Valley Air Quality/Atmospheric Utility Signatures, Predictions and Experiments Study.
• Preparation of QA Plans for agencies such as the Pima County, Arizona Health Department and the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center.
• Laboratory audits for the California Regional Particulate Air Quality Study.
• Automotive studies for Chevron, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, American Petroleum Institute, Western States Petroleum Association, and EPA office of mobile sources.
• Sampling of ambient diesel particulate matter in the Tuscarora Mountain tunnel for the Health Effects Institute.
• Paved road silt loading studies for California Power generating companies.

At present, Mr. Coulombe manages the Frits Went Laboratory—a unique facility that gives scientists an unmatched capability for understanding the controls on ecosystem function—and provides scientific insight and technical support in the operation of this resource. This includes control, monitoring, and measurement of the environmental and gas flux parameters associated with closing carbon and water budgets utilizing the four ecologically controlled enclosed lysimeter laboratories (EcoCELLs), as well as scheduling of the EcoCELLs and EcoPods.

Selected Publications

Coulombe, W.G., J. Bowen, D. Freeman, R. Egami, B. King, J. Nordin, D. Sheesley, T. Routh, and G. Briggs (1999):

Characterization of Dense Gas (Carbon Dioxide) Releases under Stable Atmospheric Conditions at the Nevada Test Site-September 11-15 1995. International Conference and Workshop on Modeling the Consequences of Accidental Releases of Hazardous Materials, San Francisco, CA, pp 677-697.

Gertler, A.W., D.H. Lowenthal, and W.G. Coulombe (1995):

PM10 Source Apportionment Study in Bullhead City, Arizona. JAWMA 45:75-82.

Schorran, D.E., C. Fought, D.F. Miller, W.G. Coulombe, R.E. Keislar, R. Benner, and D. Stedman (1994):

Semicontinuous Method for Monitoring SO2 at Low Parts-per-Trillion Concentrations. Environ. Sci. Technol. 28:1307-1311.

Gertler, A.W. and W.G. Coulombe (1994):

External Quality Assurance for the SJVAQS/AUSPEX Study. In P.A. Solomon (ed.), Planning and Managing Regional Air Quality Modeling and Measurement Studies. Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL, pp. 243-263.

Gertler, A.W., W.G. Coulombe, J.G. Watson, J.L. Bowen, R.T. Egami, and S. Marsh (1993):

Comparison of PM10 Concentrations in High- and Medium-Volume Samplers in a Desert Environment. Environ. Mon. Assess. 24:13-25.

Coulombe, W.G., A.W. Gertler, and T.E. Hoffer (1991):

Ozone Concentrations in Two Rural Southwest Desert Areas. In R.L. Berglund, D.R. Lawson, and D.J. McKee (eds.), Tropospheric Ozone and the Environment. Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, PA, pp. 704-716.