Uncertainties in emissions estimates of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in India and their impacts on regional air quality

Crop straw burning frequently occurs in Central China, where agriculture is highly productive. We carried out a two-month observation on straw burning in Hubei Province from September 1 to October 31, 2015 to track the variations of air pollutants and comprehensively quantify their influence on regional air quality. Results showed that the concentration of suspended particles (particles smaller than 2.5 or 10 µm, i.e., PM2.5/PM10) and gas pollutants including ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and carbon monoxide (CO) was significantly enhanced with the increasing number of fire spots. The average daily concentrations of PM10, PM2.5 and O3 during the intensive burning period (from October 12 to 25) exceeded the daily limits published by the World Health Organization (WHO) by 101.8, 72.7 and 59.1 μg/m3, respectively. In the hourly distribution of pollutant concentration, PM10, PM2.5, O3, SO2, NO2 and CO were 63.49%, 46.29%, 65.56%, 64.40%, 48.57% and 13.49% higher during burning periods than during non-burning periods. Statistical results based on the air quality index (AQI) indicated that biomass burning was the key factor for the deterioration of local air quality, with a contribution ratio exceeding 41%. Additionally, the pollutants were more spatially homogeneous during the burning period than during the non-burning period. Straw burning not only worsened the local air quality but also raised the pollution level of surrounding regions due to the transport of air mass.

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Can somebody clear the air? How air quality and climate change are connected.

Climanosco Research Articles - https://www.climanosco.org/collection/climate-change-and-its-impacts/ ◽

10.37207/cra.1.5 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Erika von Schneidemesser

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Air Pollution ◽

Air Quality ◽

Energy Balance ◽

Greenhouse Gases ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Policy Options ◽

Changing Climate ◽

Quality Policy

Air pollution and climate change are different phenomena, but are connected in a number of ways. The same sources emit both air pollutants and greenhouse gases, many air pollutants affect the Earth’s energy balance and thereby affect climate change, and a changing climate will affect air quality. Policy options to address either air quality or climate change cannot be formulated and applied in isolation, as most will often affect emissions of both greenhouse gases and air pollutants. This article outlines the basics of what air pollutants and greenhouse gases are, how they affect air quality and climate change, and where they come from. The connections between these two environmental phenomena are also addressed.

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Toxic volatile organic air pollutants across Canada: multi-year concentration trends, regional air quality modelling and source apportionment

Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry ◽

10.1007/s10874-015-9319-z ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 73 (2) ◽

pp. 137-164 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Craig A. Stroud ◽

Calin Zaganescu ◽

Jack Chen ◽

Chris A. McLinden ◽

Junhua Zhang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Source Apportionment ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Air Quality Modelling ◽

Volatile Organic ◽

Regional Air Quality

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A database and tool for boundary conditions for regional air quality modeling: description and evaluation

Geoscientific Model Development ◽

10.5194/gmd-7-339-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 339-360 ◽

Cited By ~ 47

Author(s):

B. H. Henderson ◽

F. Akhtar ◽

H. O. T. Pye ◽

S. L. Napelenok ◽

W. T. Hutzell

Keyword(s):

Carbon Monoxide ◽

Air Quality ◽

Boundary Conditions ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Air Quality Model ◽

Ozone Monitoring Instrument ◽

Quality Model ◽

Uncertainty Estimates ◽

Regional Air Quality

Abstract. Transported air pollutants receive increasing attention as regulations tighten and global concentrations increase. The need to represent international transport in regional air quality assessments requires improved representation of boundary concentrations. Currently available observations are too sparse vertically to provide boundary information, particularly for ozone precursors, but global simulations can be used to generate spatially and temporally varying lateral boundary conditions (LBC). This study presents a public database of global simulations designed and evaluated for use as LBC for air quality models (AQMs). The database covers the contiguous United States (CONUS) for the years 2001–2010 and contains hourly varying concentrations of ozone, aerosols, and their precursors. The database is complemented by a tool for configuring the global results as inputs to regional scale models (e.g., Community Multiscale Air Quality or Comprehensive Air quality Model with extensions). This study also presents an example application based on the CONUS domain, which is evaluated against satellite retrieved ozone and carbon monoxide vertical profiles. The results show performance is largely within uncertainty estimates for ozone from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument and carbon monoxide from the Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere (MOPITT), but there were some notable biases compared with Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) ozone. Compared with TES, our ozone predictions are high-biased in the upper troposphere, particularly in the south during January. This publication documents the global simulation database, the tool for conversion to LBC, and the evaluation of concentrations on the boundaries. This documentation is intended to support applications that require representation of long-range transport of air pollutants.

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COMPARISON OF EXPOSURE ESTIMATION METHODS FOR AIR POLLUTANTS: AMBIENT MONITORING DATA AND REGIONAL AIR QUALITY SIMULATION

ISEE Conference Abstracts ◽

10.1289/isee.2011.00073 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2011 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Mercedes Bravo ◽

Montserrat Fuentes ◽

Yang Zhang ◽

Michael Burr ◽

Michelle Bell

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Monitoring Data ◽

Estimation Methods ◽

Ambient Monitoring ◽

Exposure Estimation ◽

Regional Air Quality

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A database and tool for boundary conditions for regional air quality modeling: description and evaluation

Geoscientific Model Development Discussions ◽

10.5194/gmdd-6-4665-2013 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 4665-4704 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

B. H. Henderson ◽

F. Akhtar ◽

H. O. T. Pye ◽

S. L. Napelenok ◽

W. T. Hutzell

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Boundary Conditions ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Regional Scale ◽

Air Quality Model ◽

Quality Model ◽

Southern Boundary ◽

Uncertainty Estimates ◽

International Transport ◽

Regional Air Quality

Abstract. Transported air pollutants receive increasing attention as regulations tighten and global concentrations increase. The need to represent international transport in regional air quality assessments requires improved representation of boundary concentrations. Currently available observations are too sparse vertically to provide boundary information, particularly for ozone precursors, but global simulations can be used to generate spatially and temporally varying Lateral Boundary Conditions (LBC). This study presents a public database of global simulations designed and evaluated for use as LBC for air quality models (AQMs). The database covers the contiguous United States (CONUS) for the years 2000–2010 and contains hourly varying concentrations of ozone, aerosols, and their precursors. The database is complimented by a tool for configuring the global results as inputs to regional scale models (e.g., Community Multiscale Air Quality or Comprehensive Air quality Model with extensions). This study also presents an example application based on the CONUS domain, which is evaluated against satellite retrieved ozone vertical profiles. The results show performance is largely within uncertainty estimates for the Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) with some exceptions. The major difference shows a high bias in the upper troposphere along the southern boundary in January. This publication documents the global simulation database, the tool for conversion to LBC, and the fidelity of concentrations on the boundaries. This documentation is intended to support applications that require representation of long-range transport of air pollutants.

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Impact of emission control on regional air quality: An observational study of air pollutants before, during and after the Beijing Olympic Games

Journal of Environmental Sciences ◽

10.1016/s1001-0742(13)60395-2 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 175-180 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Shulan Wang ◽

Jian Gao ◽

Yuechong Zhang ◽

Jingqiao Zhang ◽

Fahe Cha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Observational Study ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Olympic Games ◽

Emission Control ◽

Beijing Olympic Games ◽

Regional Air Quality

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Comparison of exposure estimation methods for air pollutants: Ambient monitoring data and regional air quality simulation

Environmental Research ◽

10.1016/j.envres.2012.04.008 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 116 ◽

pp. 1-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 64

Author(s):

Mercedes A. Bravo ◽

Montserrat Fuentes ◽

Yang Zhang ◽

Michael J. Burr ◽

Michelle L. Bell

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Monitoring Data ◽

Estimation Methods ◽

Ambient Monitoring ◽

Exposure Estimation ◽

Regional Air Quality

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High-resolution air-quality observations onboard commercial Zeppelin flights in Germany

10.5194/egusphere-egu21-6470 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ralf Tillmann ◽

Franz Rohrer ◽

Georgios I. Gkatzelis ◽

Benjamin Winter ◽

Christian Wesolek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Air Quality ◽

Greenhouse Gases ◽

Air Pollutants ◽

Electrochemical Sensors ◽

Trace Gas ◽

Source Attribution ◽

Data Set ◽

Gas Measurements ◽

Air Speed

A Zeppelin NT airship has been used as a platform for in-situ measurement of greenhouse gases and air pollutants in the planetary boundary layer (PBL). The Zeppelin especially with its long flight endurance, low air speed and potential high payload fills a gap between stationary ground based and remote sensing measurements, payload limited UAV based air monitoring, long range-high-altitude aircraft, and satellite observations. Its flight properties render unique applications for the observation of PBL dynamics and air quality monitoring. Highly resolved spatial and temporal trace gas measurements provide input required for modelling of air pollution and validation of emission inventories.The core instrument deployed was a novel Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) based multi-compound gas analyzer (MIRO Analytical AG) to measure in-situ concentrations of 10 greenhouse gases and air pollutants simultaneously. The analyzer measured CO2, N2O, H2O and CH4, and the pollutants CO, NO, NO2, O3, SO2 and NH3 with high precision and a measurement rate of 1 Hz. The instrument was operated remotely without the need of on-site personnel. The instrument package was complemented by electrochemical sensors for NO, NO2, Ox and CO (alphasense), an optical particle counter (alphasense), temperature, humidity, altitude and position monitoring. Three campaigns of two weeks each were conducted in 2020 comprising unattended operation during commercial passenger flights.The acquired data set will be discussed in regard to (1) diurnal height profiles of trace gases such as NO2, (2) a detailed source attribution by fingerprinting, and (3) a comparison to observations from ground-based monitoring stations. The results demonstrate the QCL spectrometer as an all-in-one solution for air-borne trace gas monitoring. By measuring 10 compounds at once it helps to greatly reduce payload, space requirements and power consumption.

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