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.

Photochemical Process Modeling and Analysis of Ozone Generation

Air pollution in modern city and industrial zones has become a serious public concern in recent years in China. Significance of air quality assessment and emission control strategy design is increasing. Most studies in China focus on particulate matter(PM), especially PM2.5, while few account for photochemical secondary air pollutions represented by ozone(O3). In this paper, a procedure for air quality simulation with comprehensive air quality model with extensions(CAMx) is demonstrated for studying the photochemical process and ozone generation in the troposphere. As a case study, the CAMx photochemical grid model is used to model ozone over southern part of Beijing city in winter, 2011. The input parameters to CAMx include emission sources, meteorology field data, terrain definition, photolysis status, initial and boundary conditions. The simulation results are verified by theoretical analysis of the ozone generation tendency. The simulated variation tendency of domain-wide average value of hourly ozone concentration coincides reasonably well with the theoretical analysis on the atmospheric photochemical process, demonstrating the effectiveness of the procedure. An integrated model system that cooperates with CAMx will be established in our future work.

2013年1月华北平原重霾成因模拟分析

2013年1月华北平原出现了罕见的重污染天气过程，并引发连续多天大范围重霾现象。利用中华人民共和国环境保护部公布的空气污染指数日值数据和气象常规观测数据，结合区域空气质量模式系统RAMS-CMAQ的模拟结果，对1月10～15日污染过程的气象要素和关键气溶胶物种时空分布特征进行了详细分析，并对灰霾成因进行了探讨。结果表明，受本次污染过程影响的区域主要分布在北京－天津－唐山、河北省中南部和山东省大部。这些地区细颗粒物（即PM2.5）日均质量浓度超过120 μg m-3，且基本被灰霾覆盖，日均能见度在5～8 km之间。其中在北京、天津、石家庄和济南市及周边地区细颗粒物日均质量浓度可达250～300 μg m-3，部分市区可超过300 μg m-3，而日均能见度则可下降至3 km以下，形成重度灰霾。此外，对气象场的分析显示，本次污染过程期间华北平原大部分地区水平风速较多年平均值偏小约20%，且有明显逆温层覆盖，北京－天津－唐山、河北省南部和山东省北部的相对湿度则较多年平均值偏高达10%～40%。这样的气象条件不仅造成污染物易于堆积，而且有利于吸湿性粒子消光效应的快速增长，使能见度明显下降，是引发灰霾的重要因素之一。在北京地区引发灰霾的主要气溶胶物种为硫酸盐、硝酸盐和铵盐，这3种无机盐对近地面的消光贡献比率达到50%以上。其中硝酸盐的消光贡献比率最高，可达总体效应的1/4，表明在这次污染过程中除相关工业源排放外，交通源排放也是北京地区主要的污染源之一。

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.

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.

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.

Role of Anthropogenic Volatile Organic Compounds and Nitrogen Oxides as Ozone Precursors in the Wintertime over East Asia

As an exercise in model sensitivity, the Models-3 Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system with meteorological fields from the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) was applied to study the response of photochemical oxidants to systematic increases in anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOC) and nitrogen oxides (NO x) emissions in January 1997 over East Asia. Three simulations-one base case and two sensitivity simulations were carried out. Two sensitivity simulations were performed by assuming a 35% separate increase in anthropogenic VOC and NO x emissions comparing with the base case. Biogenic VOC emissions were held constant across the sensitivity simulations. To evaluate the model performance, ozone mixing ratios (O 3) from the base case simulation were compared with surface observations at five remote sites in Japan, and it was found that the model reproduces most of the important features in the observations. Monthly average O 3 concentrations in the daytime were examined to gain an understanding of how the increase in anthropogenic emissions affected the overall chemical system for each sensitivity simulation.

NUMERICAL SIMULATION WITH A COMPREHENSIVE CHEMICAL TRANSPORT MODEL OF NITRATE,SULFATE,AND AMMONIUM AEROSOL DISTRIBUTIONS OVER EAST ASIA

The transport and chemical production processes of nitrate, sulfate, and ammonium aerosols over East Asia were investigated by use of the Models-3 Community Multi-scale Air Quality （CMAQ） modeling system coupled with the Regional Atmospheric Modeling System （RAMS）. For the evaluation of the model＇s ability in depicting their 3-dimensional concentration distributions and temporal variations, modeled concentrations of nitrate, sulfate, and ammonium aerosols are compared with the observations obtained at a ground station in Japan in March 2001 and onboard of an aircraft DC-8 on 18 and 21 March 2001 during the Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific （TRACE-P） field campaign. Comparison shows that simulated values of nitrate, sulfate, and ammonium aerosols are generally in good agreement with their observed data, and the model captures most important observed features, and reproduces temporal and spatial variations of nitrate, sulfate, and ammonium aerosol concentrations reasonably well, e.g., the timing and locations of the concentration spikes of nitrate, sulfate, and ammonium aerosols are well reproduced, but large discrepancies between observed and simulated values are also clearly seen at some points and some times due to the coarse grid resolution and uncertainties of the emissions used in this study. This comparison results indicate that CMAQ is able to simulate the distributions of nitrate, sulfate, and ammonium aerosols and their related species in the troposphere over East Asia reasonably well.

Regional source contributions to fine particulate matter of less studied cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in 2017

Located in the central area of the North China Plain, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region experiences severe air pollution, especially for Hebei province with five cities among the top 10 cities with the worst air quality nationwide. However, less studies have investigated local and regional contributions to cities in Hebei in comparison to Beijing and Tianjin. In this study, a source-oriented version of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model is used to quantify inter- and intra-province transport of PM_(2.5) in 11 cities within Hebei in 2017. PM_(2.5) and its components vary seasonally with high levels in winter and low levels in summer. Local contributions to total PM_(2.5) within cities are 23%–61%, while intra-province transport contributes 10%–30%, and inter-province transport contributes 23%–46%, with top contributors of Shandong (4%–22%), Henan (3%–15%) and Shanxi (2%–11%). The primary components in most cities are mainly from local sources (30%–80%), and the secondary components are mainly from inter-province contributions (30%–66%). Local sources have the highest contributions to total PM_(2.5) in Shijiazhuang (∼49%), followed by Shanxi (∼12%) and Xingtai (∼7%). Secondary components from local and intra-province emissions are the major cause of heavy pollution events. These results suggest that both local and regional joint control measures with neighboring cities and provinces are necessary for pollution reduction in Hebei cities.