UC Davis researchers will be studying the roadside air quality along I-80 near Davis approximately one mile east of Mace Blvd. beginning Thursday, Nov. 14. The air quality sampling will take place during the early morning hours on days with low wind speed and clear skies. Sampling will continue through early December. The roadside research is part of a study of highway air pollution being conducted jointly by the UC Davis Institute of Transportation Studies and CalTrans Environmental Engineering Program, with help from the UC Davis departments of atmospheric science, and civil and environmental engineering. Drivers may notice twin 60-foot-tall sampling towers resembling radio broadcast antennae on both sides of I-80 that will be monitoring pollution levels, heat flux, wind speed and temperature. Farther back from the road, twin tethered weather balloons 7 feet in diameter will be hovering above the treetops to collect additional data. Drivers seeing the air-quality monitoring equipment are cautioned not to unnecessarily reduce speeds and cause congestion. The research will focus on improving air-quality modeling and planning techniques that are used to predict pollution levels adjacent to roadways. There, the public can be exposed to carbon monoxide and particulate pollution. Fall seasonal meteorological conditions are associated with elevated levels of carbon monoxide and particulate matter. Preliminary results from a similar sampling conducted last February near the Sacramento Arco Arena found carbon monoxide levels concentrated higher off the ground than experts had previously realized and out of immediate breathing range.