The TexAQS II Air Quality Field Study is a comprehensive research initiative to better understand the causes of air pollution. The study will provide policy makers with technical information to help design plans that will clean the air in Texas. Officials plan to use the collected data to understand air pollution causes, how it is formed, how it travels throughout the region and the effectiveness of various pollution control strategies.

As part of the study, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality planned to enlist the aid of a helicopter to study emissions from industries in the Houston Ship Channel, the Texas City industrial area, and the Beaumont/Port Arthur industrial areas using an infrared camera to identify VOC emissions. The HAWK infrared video camera can view VOC plumes, such as gasoline vapors and ethylene that cannot be seen by the human eye.

Visit www.tceq.state.tx.us/policy/ta/am/TexAQS_II.html to learn more about the project.