VALPARAISO | Potential air pollution wafted from China to Japan around the time of the Beijing Olympics is the subject of a new study by a Valparaiso University professor.

Gary Morris, a professor of physics and astronomy, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lead a research project this summer and next to measure Chinese pollution levels and their impact on neighboring Japan. The study will also evaluate the effectiveness of China's pollution control strategy during this summer's Olympics.

Morris said air pollution has been a growing problem in China because of the country's rapid industrialization. This summer, Chinese officials are closing coal-burning power plants and factories, halting major construction projects and taking other steps to dramatically reduce emissions in the weeks leading up to the games, Morris said. The hope is that the perpetual haze hanging over Beijing will lift by the time athletes and spectators arrive in August.

Morris will travel to Japan at the beginning of July and start collecting air quality data from the northern city of Sapporo. He will work with colleagues from Hokkaido University and NASA to collect data through the end of September, and then spend October and November analyzing the data with air pollution researchers at a research center in Yokohama.

Morris will return to Japan at the same time next year to collect data at a time when Chinese emissions are likely to be closer to typical levels. The team will track levels of ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and aerosol pollution using satellites, ground-based instruments and weather balloons.

The project should add to scientists' understanding of Earth's interconnectedness, Morris said. -- For the Times