Using a Coupled Air Quality Modeling System for the Development of an Air Quality Plan in Madrid (Spain): Source Apportionment and Analysis Evaluation of Mitigation Measures

In this contribution, we use a coupled air quality modelling system (AQM) as a tool to design and develop an air quality plan in Madrid. AQM has allowed us to obtain a preliminary evaluation of the effect of mitigation measures over regional and local air quality levels. To achieve these goals, we have prepared a sophisticated AQM, coupling the meteorological model WRF, the emission model AEMM, and the photochemical model CMAQ. AQM was evaluated using the whole modelling year 2010 working with high horizontal resolution, 3 km for the region of Madrid and 1km for urban metropolitan area of Madrid. Two different analyses have been realized: a source apportionment exercise following a zero-out methodology to obtain the contribution to the air quality levels of the different emission sector;and an evaluation of the main mitigation measures considered in the air quality plan using sensitivity analysis. The air quality plan was focused on the improvement of NO2 levels and AQM analyzed the effect of the mitigation measures during ten episodes of 2011 where NO2 or O3 levels were the highest of the year;so we analyzed the effect of the mitigation plan in worst conditions. Results provided by the AQM system show that it accomplishes the European Directive modelling uncertainty requirements and the mean absolute gross error for 1-h maximum daily NO2 is 31% over locations with higher levels of this atmospheric pollutant;the road traffic is the main contributor to the air quality levels providing a 81% for NO2, 67% for CO and 46% for PM10;measures defined in the plan achieve to reduce up to 11 μgm-3 NO2 levels offering highest reductions over urban areas with traffic influence.

Enhancing Air Quality Forecasts over Catalonia(Spain)Using Model Output Statistics

Model Output Statistics (MOS) is a well-known technique that allows improving outputs from numerical atmospheric models. In this contribution, we present the development of a MOS algorithm to improve air quality forecasts in Catalonia, a region in the northeast of Spain. These forecasts are obtained from an Eulerian coupled air quality modelling system developed by Meteosim. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter (PM10) and Ozone (03) have been the pollutants considered and the methodology has been applied on statistical values of these pollutants according to regulatory levels. Four MOS algorithms have been developed, characterized by different approaches in relation with seasonal stratification and stratification according to the measurement stations considered. Algorithms have been compared among them in order to obtain a MOS that reduces the forecast uncertainties. Results obtained show that the best MOS designed increases the accuracy of NO2 maximum 1&#45h daily value forecast from 71% to 75%, from 68% to 81% in the case of daily values of PM10, and finally, the accuracy of O3 maximum 1-h daily value from 79% to 87%.

High-resolution modeling and evaluation of ozone air quality of Osaka using MM5-CMAQ system

High-resolution modeling approach is increasingly being considered as a necessary step for improving the monitoring and predictions of regional air quality. This is especially true for highly urbanized region with complex terrain and land-use. This study uses Community Multiscale Air Quality （CMAQ） model coupled with MM5 mesoscale model for a comprehensive analysis to assess the suitability of such high-resolution modeling system in predicting ozone air quality in the complex terrains of Osaka, Japan. The 1-km and 3-kin grid domains were nested inside a 9-km domain and the domain with 1-km grid covered the Osaka region. High-resolution Grid Point Value-Mesoscale Model （GPV-MSM） data were used after suitable validation. The simulated ozone concentrations were validated and evaluated using statistical metrics using performance criteria set for ozone. Daily maxima of ozone were found better simulated by the 1-krn grid domain than the coarser 9-km and 3-km domains, with the maximum improvement in the mean absolute gross error about 3 ppbv. In addition, 1-km grid results fared better than other grids at most of the observation stations that showed noticeable differences in gross error as well as correlation. These results amply justify the use of the integrated high-resolution MM5-CMAQ modeling system in the highly urbanized region, such as the Osaka region, which has complex terrain and land-use.

Modeling of air quality with a modified two-dimensional Eulerian model: A case study in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of China

A modified two-dimensional Eulerian air quality model was used to simulate both the gaseous and particulate pollutant concentrations during October 21-24, 2004 in the Pearl River Delta （PRD） region, China. The most significant improvement to the model is the added capability to predict the secondary organic aerosols （SOA） concentrations because of the inclusion of the SOA formation chemistry. The meteorological input data were prepared using the CALMET meteorological model. The concentrations of aerosol-bound species such as NO3^-, NH4^＋, SO4^2-, and SOA were calculated in the fine particle size range （〈2.5 μm）. The results of the two-dimensional model were compared to the measurements at the ground level during the PRD Intensive Monitoring Campaign （IMC）. Overall, there were good agreements between the measured and modeled concentrations of inorganic aerosol components and O3. Both the measured and the modeled results indicated that the maximum hourly O3 concentrations exceeded the China National Air Quality Standard. The predicted 24-h average SOA concentrations were in reasonable agreement with those predicted by the method of minimum OC/EC ratio.

Aeolian Dust Forecast in Arid and Semiarid Regions of Peru and Chile and Their Contribution over Particulate Matter Concentration

The dust generated in arid areas of the planet is a very important source of particulate matter in the air, especially favoured by the presence of winds that can raise erodible material from the surface. These particles have an important influence when making an assessment of the air quality, due to its direct and indirect impact on public health. In this work, we reproduce episodes of aeolian dusts in the desert areas of Peru and Chile, where high dust concentration events are common and many mining industries are located. The differentiation of the contribution of particulate matter from Aeolian dusts and mining activities of the area is an important issue, as well as trying to forecast these events. For this purpose, we have calculated an erodibility factor at high resolution that, combined with WRF meteorological output and the GOCART dust scheme, gives the emission of particulate matter. We have introduced the emissions in the photochemical model CMAQ, which determines the concentrations in the different domains, and we have observed that the natural dust contributes greatly to pollution in the area, exceeding permissible limit values in the area of Paracas in Peru, and with contributions of up to 23% of the total particulate matter in the city of Calama in Chile, resulting non-negligible values for the evaluation of air quality.

Numerical Study on the Impacts of Heterogeneous Reactions on Ozone Formation in the Beijing Urban Area

The air quality model CMAQ-MADRID （Community Multiscale Air Quality-Model of Aerosol Dynamics, Reaction, Ionization and Dissolution） was employed to simulate summer O3 formation in Beijing China, in order to explore the impacts of four heterogeneous reactions on O3 formation in an urban area. The results showed that the impacts were obvious and exhibited the characteristics of a typical response of a VOC-limited regime in the urban area. For the four heterogeneous reactions considered, the NO2 and HO2 heterogeneous reactions have the most severe impacts on O3 formation. During the O3 formation period, the NO2 heterogeneous reaction increased new radical creation by 30%, raising the atmospheric activity as more NO→NO2 conversion occurred, thus causing the O3 to rise. The increase of O3 peak concentration reached a maximum value of 67 ppb in the urban area. In the morning hours, high NO titration reduced the effect of the photolysis of HONO, which was produced heterogeneously at night in the surface layer. The NO2 heterogeneous reaction in the daytime is likely one of the major reasons causing the O3 increase in the Beijing urban area. The HO2 heterogeneous reaction accelerated radical termination, resulting in a decrease of the radical concentration by 44% at the most. O3 peak concentration decreased by a maximum amount of 24 ppb in the urban area. The simulation results were improved when the heterogeneous reactions were included, with the O3 and HONO model results close to the observations.

A Numerical Study of Tropospheric Ozone in the Springtime in East Asia

The Models-3 Community Multi-scale Air Quality modeling system (CMAQ) coupled with the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) is applied to East Asia to study the transport and photochemical transformation of tropospheric ozone in March 1998. The calculated mixing ratios of ozone and carbon monoxide are compared with ground level observations at three remote sites in Japan and it is found that the model reproduces the observed features very well. Examination of several high episodes of ozone and carbon monoxide indicates that these elevated levels are found in association with continental outflow, demonstrating the critical role of the rapid transport of carbon monoxide and other ozone precursors from the continental boundary layer. In comparison with available ozonesonde data, it is found that the model-calculated ozone concentrations are generally in good agreement with the measurements, and the stratospheric contribution to surface ozone mixing ratios is quite limited.

Source Contributions to PM2.5 under Unfavorable Weather Conditions in Guangzhou City,China

Historical haze episodes（2013–16） in Guangzhou were examined and classified according to synoptic weather systems.Four types of weather systems were found to be unfavorable, among which ＂foreside of a cold front＂（FC） and ＂sea high pressure＂（SP） were the most frequent（〉 75% of the total）. Targeted case studies were conducted based on an FC-affected event and an SP-affected event with the aim of understanding the characteristics of the contributions of source regions to fine particulate matter（PM（2.5）） in Guangzhou. Four kinds of contributions—namely, emissions outside Guangdong Province（super-region）, emissions from the Pearl River Delta region（PRD region）, emissions from Guangzhou–Foshan–Shenzhen（GFS region）, and emissions from Guangzhou（local）—were investigated using the Weather Research and Forecasting–Community Multiscale Air Quality model. The results showed that the source region contribution differed with different weather systems. SP was a stagnant weather condition, and the source region contribution ratio showed that the local region was a major contributor（37%）, while the PRD region, GFS region and the super-region only contributed 8%, 2.8% and 7%, respectively, to PM（2.5） concentrations. By contrast, FC favored regional transport. The super-region became noticeable,contributing 34.8%, while the local region decreased to 12%. A simple method was proposed to quantify the relative impact of meteorology and emissions. Meteorology had a 35% impact, compared with an impact of-18% for emissions, when comparing the FC-affected event with that of the SP. The results from this study can provide guidance to policymakers for the implementation of effective control strategies.

Impact of energy structure adjustment on air quality:a case study in Beijing,China

Energy consumption is a major cause of air pollution in Beijing,and the adjustment of the energy structure is of strategic importance to the reduction of carbon intensity and the improvement of air quality.In this paper,we explored the future trend of energy structure adjustment in Beijing till 2020,designed five energy scenarios focusing on the fuel substitution in power plants and heating sectors,established emission inventories,and utilized the Mesoscale Modeling System Generation 5(MM5)and the Models-3/Community Multiscale Air Quality Model(CMAQ)to evaluate the impact of these measures on air quality.By implementing this systematic energy structure adjustment,the emissions of PM_(10),PM_(2.5),SO_(2),NO_(x),and non-methane volatile organic compounds(NMVOCs)will decrease distinctly by 34.0%,53.2%,78.3%,47.0%,and 30.6%respectively in the most coalintensive scenario of 2020 compared with 2005.Correspondingly,MM5-Models-3/CMAQ simulations indicate significant reduction in the concentrations of major pollutants,implying that energy structure adjustment can play an important role in improving Beijing’s air quality.By fuel substitution for power plants and heating boilers,PM_(10),PM_(2.5),SO_(2),NO_(x),and NMVOCs will be reduced further,but slightly by 1.7%,4.5%,11.4%,13.5%,and 8.8%respectively in the least coal-intensive scenario.The air quality impacts of different scenarios in 2020 resemble each other,indicating that the potential of air quality improvement due to structure adjustment in power plants and heating sectors is limited.However,the CO_(2) emission is 10.0%lower in the least coal-intensive scenario than in the most coal-intensive one,contributing to Beijing’s ambition to build a low carbon city.Except for energy structure adjustment,it is necessary to take further measures to ensure the attainment of air quality standards.

Development and case study of a science-based software platform to support policy making on air quality

This article describes the development and implementations of a novel software platform that supports real-time, science-based policy making on air quality through a user-friendly interface. The software, RSM-VAT, uses a response surface modeling（RSM） methodology and serves as a visualization and analysis tool（VAT） for three-dimensional air quality data obtained by atmospheric models. The software features a number of powerful and intuitive data visualization functions for illustrating the complex nonlinear relationship between emission reductions and air quality benefits. The case study of contiguous U.S.demonstrates that the enhanced RSM-VAT is capable of reproducing the air quality model results with Normalized Mean Bias 〈 2% and assisting in air quality policy making in near real time.

Formation processes and source contributions of ground-level ozone in urban and suburban Beijing using the WRF-CMAQ modelling system

Beijing faces the challenge of high levels of ozone(O_(3))pollution.In this study,the Weather Research and Forecasting model and Community Multiscale Air Qualitymodel(CMAQ)were used to simulate atmospheric O_(3) concentrations in Beijing.To investigate the formation mechanisms and source contributions of O_(3) pollution in different regions of Beijing,process analysis and the integrated source apportionmentmethodwithin the CMAQwere applied to O_(3) concentrations in the summer of 2018.The process analysis results showed that vertical diffusion was the major contributor to O_(3) concentrations at all receptor sites in Beijing,at>65.94μg/(m^(3)·hr).Gas-phase chemical reactions consumed a significant amount of O_(3) in urban and inner suburban areas(>−5.57μg/(m^(3)·hr)),while near-surface chemical reactions made positive contributions in outer suburban areas(>4.72μg/(m^(3)·hr)).The O_(3) formation chemical reactions indicated that NO titration,which removes O_(3) at night-time,mainly occurred in urban areas.The weaker chemical reactions occurring near the surface in outer suburbs suggested that suburban-area O_(3) was produced in the upper atmospheric layers and was transported vertically to the lower layers.The O_(3) source apportionment results showed that boundary contributions were the dominant contributor to O_(3) pollution in Beijing(>40%).The contribution of non-local emissions to O_(3) levels was significantly greater in the outer suburbs than in urban and inner suburban areas due to topography.This study increases the understanding of the complex processes of O_(3) formation in different areas of Beijing and informs the implementation of O_(3) control plans.

Analysis and prediction of the influence of energy utilization on air quality in Beijing

This work evaluates the influence of energy consumption on the future air quality in Beijing,using 2000 as the base year and 2008 as the target year.It establishes the emission inventory of primary PM_(10),SO_(2) and NO_(x) related to energy utilization in eight areas of Beijing.The air quality model was adopted to simulate the temporal and spatial distribution of each pollutant concentration in the eight urban areas.Their emission,concentration distribution,and sectoral share responsibility rate were analyzed,and air quality in 2008 was predicted.The industrial sector contributed above 40% of primary PM_(10) and SO_(2) resulting from energy consumption,while vehicles accounted for about 65% of NO_(x).According to the current policy and development trend,air quality in the eight urban areas could become better in 2008 when the average concentrations of primary PM_(10),SO_(2) and NO_(2) related to energy utilization at each monitored site are predicted to be about 25,50 and 51μg/m^(3),respectively.

Air pollution and its control in China

The rapid growth of China’s economy has led to severe air pollution characterized by acid rain,severe pollu-tion in cities,and regional air pollution.High concentrations are found for various pollutants such as sulfur dioxides(SO2),nitrogen oxides(NOx),and fine particulates.Great efforts have thus been undertaken for the control of air pollution in the country.This paper discusses the development and application of appropriate technologies for reducing the major pollutants produced by coal and vehicles,and investi-gates air quality modeling as an important support for policy-making.

Vertical aerosol data assimilation technology and application based on satellite and ground lidar:A review and outlook

Observations and numerical models are mainly used to investigate the spatiotemporal distribution and vertical structure characteristics of aerosols to understand aerosol pollution and its effects.However,the limitations of observations and the uncertainties of numerical models bias aerosol calculations and predictions.Data assimilation combines observations and numerical models to improve the accuracy of the initial,analytical fields of models and promote the development of atmospheric aerosol pollution research.Numerous studies have been conducted to integrate multi-source data,such as aerosol optical depth and aerosol extinction coefficient profile,into various chemical transport models using various data assimilation algorithms and have achieved good assimilation results.The definition of data assimilation and the main algorithms will be briefly presented,and the progress of aerosol assimilation according to two types of aerosol data,namely,aerosol optical depth and extinction coefficient,will be presented.The application of vertical aerosol data assimilation,as well as the future trends and challenges of aerosol data assimilation,will be further analysed.

A database of modeled gridded dry deposition velocities for 45 gaseous species and three particle size ranges across North America

The dry deposition process refers to the flux loss of an atmospheric pollutant due to uptake of the pollutant by the earth’s surfaces.Dry deposition flux of a chemical species is typically calculated as the product of its surface-layer concentration and its dry deposition velocity(V_(d)).Field measurement based V_(d) data are very scarce or do not exist for many chemical species considered in chemistry transport models.In the present study,gaseous and particulate dry deposition schemes were applied to generate a database of hourly V_(d) for 45 gaseous species and three particle size ranges for two years(2016–2017)at a 15 kmby 15 km horizontal resolution across North America.Hourly V_(d) of the 45 gaseous species ranged from<0.001 to 4.6 cm/sec across the whole domain,with chemical species-dependentmedian(mean)values being in the range of 0.018–1.37 cm/sec(0.05–1.43 cm/sec).The spatial distributions of the two-year average V_(d) showed values higher than 1–3 cm/sec for those soluble and reactive species over certain land types.Soluble species have the highest V_(d) over water surfaces,while insoluble but reactive species have the highest V_(d) over forests.Hourly V_(d) of PM_(2.5) across the whole domain ranged from 0.039 to 0.75 cm/sec with median(mean)value of 0.18(0.20)cm s^(−1),while the mean V_(d) for PM_(2.5)–10 is twice that of PM_(2.5).Uncertainties in the modeled V_(d) are typically on the order of a factor of 2.0 or larger,which needs to be considered when applying the dataset in other studies.

A numerical study of summer ozone concentration over the Kanto area of Japan using the MM5/CMAQ model

We assessed the ability of the MM5/CMAQ model to predict ozone （O3） air quality over the Kanto area and to investigate the factors that affect simulation of O3. We find that the coupled MM5/CMAQ model is a useful tool for the analysis of urban environmental problems. The simulation results were compared with observational data and were found to accurately replicate most of the important observed characteristics, The initial and boundary conditions were found to have a significant effect on simulated O3 concentrations. The results show that on hot and dry days with high O3 concentration, the CMAQ model provides a poor simulation of O3 maxima when using initial and boundary conditions derived from the CMAQ default data. The simulation of peak O3 concentrations is improved with the JCAP initial and boundary conditions. On mild days, the default CMAQ initial and boundary conditions provide a more realistic simulation. Meteorological conditions also have a strong impact on the simulated distribution and accumulation of O3 concentrations in this area. Low O3 concentrations are simulated during mild weather conditions, and high concentrations are predicted during hot and dry weather. By investigating the effects of different meteorological conditions on each model process, we find that advection and diffusion differ the most between the two meteorological regimes. Thus, differences in the winds that govern the transport of O3 and its precursors are likely the most important meteorological drivers of ozone concentration over the central Kanto area.

A case study of development and application of a streamlined control and response modeling system for PM_(2.5)attainment assessment in China

This article describes the development and application of a streamlined air control and response modeling system with a novel response surface modeling-linear coupled fitting method and a new module to provide streamlined model data for PM_（2.5） attainment assessment in China.This method is capable of significantly reducing the dimensions required to establish a response surface model,as well as capturing more realistic response of PM_（2.5） to emission changes with a limited number of model simulations.The newly developed module establishes a data link between the system and the Software for Model Attainment Test—Community Edition（SMAT-CE）,and has the ability to rapidly provide model responses to emission control scenarios for SMAT-CE using a simple interface.The performance of this streamlined system is demonstrated through a case study of the Yangtze River Delta（YRD） in China.Our results show that this system is capable of reproducing the Community Multi-Scale Air Quality（CMAQ） model simulation results with maximum mean normalized error 〈 3.5%.It is also demonstrated that primary emissions make a major contribution to ambient levels of PM_（2.5） in January and August（e.g.,more than50%contributed by primary emissions in Shanghai）,and Shanghai needs to have regional emission control both locally and in its neighboring provinces to meet China＇s annual PM_（2.5）National Ambient Air Quality Standard.The streamlined system provides a real-time control/response assessment to identify the contributions of major emission sources to ambient PM_（2.5）（and potentially O_3 as well） and streamline air quality data for SMAT-CE to perform attainment assessments.

Synergistic impacts of anthropogenic and biogenic emissions on summer surface O_3 in East Asia

A factor separation technique and an improved regional air quality model （RAQM） were applied to calculate synergistic contributions of anthropogenic volatile organic compounds （AVOCs）,biogenic volatile organic compounds （BVOCs） and nitrogen oxides （NOx） to daily maximum surface O3（O3DM） concentrations in East Asia in summer （June to August 2000）.The summer averaged synergistic impacts of AVOCs and NOx are dominant in most areas of North China,with a maximum of 60 ppbv,while those of BVOCs and NOx are notable only in some limited areas with high BVOC emissions in South China,with a maximum of 25 ppbv.This result implies that BVOCs contribute much less to summer averaged O3DM concentrations than AVOCs in most areas of East Asia at a coarse spatial resolution （1×1） although global emissions of BVOCs are much greater than those of AVOCs.Daily maximum total contributions of BVOCs can approach 20 ppbv in North China,but they can reach 40 ppbv in South China,approaching or exceeding those in some developed countries in Europe and North America.BVOC emissions in such special areas should be considered when O3 control measures are taken.Synergistic contributions among AVOCs,BVOCs and NOx significantly enhance O3 concentrations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Tangshan region and decrease them in some areas in South China.Thus,the total contributions of BVOCs to O3DM vary significantly from day to day and from location to location.This result suggests that O3 control measures obtained from episodic studies could be limited for long-term applications.

A NUMERICAL STUDY OF THE VARIATIONS AND DISTRIBUTIONS OF TROPOSPHERIC OZONE AND ITS PRECURSORS OVER CHINA

By means of a three-dimensional meteorological model(MM5)and a chemical model,the distributions of tropospheric ozone and its precursors over China have been simulated in summer and winter time,16—18 August 1994 and 7—9 January 1995.The distribution of ozone over the Tibetan Plateau in summer time is deeply discussed.The simulated results indicate that the distributions of surface ozone and NO_x are in good agreement with observed results,and human activities and photochemical reactions are the main factors controlling the surface ozone and NO_x concentrations.In addition,higher ozone concentrations are coincided with the air convergence, and the lower concentrations are related to the air divergence.In summer,over the Tibetan Plateau the strong flow convergence results in higher ozone concentrations in the lower troposphere:and the strong flow divergence results in lower ozone concentrations in the upper troposphere.In winter time ozone concentrations show Iarge-scale characteristics controlled by westerly flow,and in the jet area they are lower than those outside the jet.

Evaluation of health benefit using Ben MAP-CE with an integrated scheme of model and monitor data during Guangzhou Asian Games

Guangzhou is the capital and largest city（land area：7287 km2）of Guangdong province in South China.The air quality in Guangzhou typically worsens in November due to unfavorable meteorological conditions for pollutant dispersion.During the Guangzhou Asian Games in November 2010,the Guangzhou government carried out a number of emission control measures that significantly improved the air quality.In this paper,we estimated the acute health outcome changes related to the air quality improvement during the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games using a next-generation,fully-integrated assessment system for air quality and health benefits.This advanced system generates air quality data by fusing model and monitoring data instead of using monitoring data alone,which provides more reliable results.The air quality estimates retain the spatial distribution of model results while calibrating the value with observations.The results show that the mean PM2.5concentration in November 2010 decreased by 3.5μg/m^3 compared to that in 2009 due to the emission control measures.From the analysis,we estimate that the air quality improvement avoided 106 premature deaths,1869 cases of hospital admission,and 20,026 cases of outpatient visits.The overall cost benefit of the improved air quality is estimated to be 165 million CNY,with the avoided premature death contributing 90%of this figure.The research demonstrates that Ben MAP-CE is capable of assessing the health and cost benefits of air pollution control for sound policy making.