scholarly journals Study of Planetary Boundary Layer and Aerosol Transport Using Ceilometer and Air Quality Modelling in New South Wales (NSW), Australia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiep Nguyen Duc ◽  
Md Mahmudur Raman ◽  
Toan Trieu ◽  
Merched Azzi ◽  
Matthew Riley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Planetary Boundary Layer ◽  
New South ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Pollutant Concentration ◽  
Aerosol Transport ◽  
Quality Models ◽  
South Wales

The planetary boundary layer height (PBLH) is one of the key factors in influencing the dispersion of the air pollutants in the troposphere and hence the air pollutant concentration on ground level. For this reason, accurate air pollutant concentration depends on the performance of PBLH prediction. Recently, ceilometer, a lidar instrument to measure cloud base height, has been used by atmospheric scientists and air pollution control authorities to determine the mixing level height (MLH) in improving forecasting and understanding the evolution of aerosol layers above ground at a site. In this study, ceilometer data at an urban (Lidcombe) and a rural (Merriwa) location in the New South Wales, Australia was used to validate the PBLH prediction from two air quality models (CCAM-CTM and WRF-CMAQ) as well as to understand the aerosol transport from sources to receptor point at Merriwa for the three case studies where high PM10 concentration was detected in each of the three days. The results show that the PBLH prediction by the two air quality models corresponds reasonably well with observed ceilometer data and the cause and source of high PM10 concentration at Merriwa can be found by using ceilometer MLH data to corroborate with back trajectory analysis of transport of aerosols to the receptor point at Merriwa. Of the three case studies, one had aerosol source from north and north west of Merriwa in remote NSW where windblown dust is the main source, and the other two had sources from south and south east of Merriwa where anthropogenic sources dominate,

scholarly journals Subtle Changes or Dramatic Perceptions of Air Pollution in Sydney during COVID-19

Environments ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Peter Brimblecombe ◽  
Yonghang Lai
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
New South ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Physical Reality ◽  
Social Perceptions ◽  
Search Terms ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Significant Difference

The COVID-19 pandemic made it critical to limit the spread of the disease by enforcing human isolation, restricting travel and reducing social activities. Dramatic improvements to air quality, especially NO2, have often characterised places under COVID-19 restrictions. Air pollution measurements in Sydney in April 2019 and during the lockdown period in April 2020 show reduced daily averaged NO2 concentrations: 8.52 ± 1.92 and 7.85 ± 2.92 ppb, though not significantly so (p1~0.15) and PM2.5 8.91 ± 4.94 and 7.95 ± 2.64 µg m−3, again a non-significant difference (p1~0.18). Satellite imagery suggests changes that parallel those at ground level, but the column densities averaged over space and time, in false-colour, are more dramatic. Changed human mobility could be traced in increasing times spent at home, assessed from Google Mobility Reports and mirrored in decreased traffic flow on a major road, suggesting compliance with the restrictions. Electricity demand for the State of New South Wales was low under lockdown in early April 2020, but it recovered rapidly. Analysis of the uses of search terms: bushfires, air quality, haze and air pollution using Google Trends showed strong links between bushfires and pollution-related terms. The smoke from bushfires in late 2019 may well have added to the general impression of improved air quality during lockdown, despite only modest changes in the ground level measurements. This gives hints that successful regulation of air quality requires maintaining a delicate balance between our social perceptions and the physical reality.

scholarly journals Dust Transport from Inland Australia and Its Impact on Air Quality and Health on the Eastern Coast of Australia during the February 2019 Dust Storm

Atmosphere ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Emilie Aragnou ◽  
Sean Watt ◽  
Hiep Nguyen Duc ◽  
Cassandra Cheeseman ◽  
Matthew Riley ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Dust Storm ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
The State ◽  
Dust Storms ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Storm Event ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Dust Storm Event

Dust storms originating from Central Australia and western New South Wales frequently cause high particle concentrations at many sites across New South Wales, both inland and along the coast. This study focussed on a dust storm event in February 2019 which affected air quality across the state as detected at many ambient monitoring stations in the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) air quality monitoring network. The WRF-Chem (Weather Research and Forecast Model—Chemistry) model is used to study the formation, dispersion and transport of dust across the state of New South Wales (NSW, Australia). Wildfires also happened in northern NSW at the same time of the dust storm in February 2019, and their emissions are taken into account in the WRF-Chem model by using Fire Inventory from NCAR (FINN) as emission input. The model performance is evaluated and is shown to predict fairly accurate the PM2.5 and PM10 concentration as compared to observation. The predicted PM2.5 concentration over New South Wales during 5 days from 11 to 15 February 2019 is then used to estimate the impact of the February 2019 dust storm event on three health endpoints, namely mortality, respiratory and cardiac disease hospitalisation rates. The results show that even though as the daily average of PM2.5 over some parts of the state, especially in western and north western NSW near the centre of the dust storm and wild fires, are very high (over 900 µg/m3), the population exposure is low due to the sparse population. Generally, the health impact is similar in order of magnitude to that caused by biomass burning events from wildfires or from hazardous reduction burnings (HRBs) near populous centres such as in Sydney in May 2016. One notable difference is the higher respiratory disease hospitalisation for this dust event (161) compared to the fire event (24).

Air Quality in Association With Rural Coal Mining and Combustion in New South Wales Australia

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 518-527 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Hendryx ◽  
Nicholas Higginbotham ◽  
Benjamin Ewald ◽  
Linda H. Connor
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Coal Mining ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
South Wales

scholarly journals Source Contributions to Ozone Formation in the New South Wales Greater Metropolitan Region, Australia

Atmosphere ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiep Nguyen Duc ◽  
Lisa Chang ◽  
Toan Trieu ◽  
David Salter ◽  
Yvonne Scorgie
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
North West ◽  
Ozone Concentrations ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Source Contributions ◽  
Ozone Levels ◽  
Different Parts

Ozone and fine particles (PM2.5) are the two main air pollutants of concern in the New South Wales Greater Metropolitan Region (NSW GMR) due to their contribution to poor air quality days in the region. This paper focuses on source contributions to ambient ozone concentrations for different parts of the NSW GMR, based on source emissions across the greater Sydney region. The observation-based Integrated Empirical Rate model (IER) was applied to delineate the different regions within the GMR based on the photochemical smog profile of each region. Ozone source contribution was then modelled using the CCAM-CTM (Cubic Conformal Atmospheric model-Chemical Transport model) modelling system and the latest air emission inventory for the greater Sydney region. Source contributions to ozone varied between regions, and also varied depending on the air quality metric applied (e.g., average or maximum ozone). Biogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions were found to contribute significantly to median and maximum ozone concentration in North West Sydney during summer. After commercial and domestic sources, power generation was found to be the next largest anthropogenic source of maximum ozone concentrations in North West Sydney. However, in South West Sydney, beside commercial and domestic sources, on-road vehicles were predicted to be the most significant contributor to maximum ozone levels, followed by biogenic sources and power stations. The results provide information that policy makers can use to devise various options to control ozone levels in different parts of the NSW Greater Metropolitan Region.

Fire in the Mallee Shrublands of Western New South Wales.

1980 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 104 ◽  
Author(s):  
JC Noble ◽  
AW Smith ◽  
HW Leslie
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Prescribed Burning ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Management Implications ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Wildfire Hazard ◽  
Western Division

This article describes the effects of the 1974175 wildfires on the mallee vegetation in the Western Division of New South Wales using two properties as case studies. The management implications arising from these experiences are described in some detail, particularly the potential for some form of management based on periodic prescribed burning to promote herbage productivity and also to reduce any future wildfire hazard. The need for appropriate research to be undertaken in this field is also discussed.

The weed suppressive ability of selected Australian grain crops; case studies from the Riverina region in New South Wales

2018 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
pp. 9-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
James M. Mwendwa ◽  
William B. Brown ◽  
Hanwen Wu ◽  
Paul A. Weston ◽  
Jeffrey D. Weidenhamer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Grain Crops ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Weed Suppressive Ability

WILL AIR QUALITY IN SYDNEY MEET PROPOSED AUSTRALIAN FINE PARTICLE NEPM GUIDELINES?

2005 ◽  
Vol 15 (03n04) ◽  
pp. 233-239 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDUARD STELCER ◽  
OLGA HAWAS ◽  
DAVID COHEN ◽  
ADAM SARBUTT ◽  
DAVID BUTTON
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Trace Elements ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Fine Particle ◽  
New South ◽  
Ion Beam ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Beam Analysis ◽  
Us Epa ◽  
Rural Sites

Since 1991 ANSTO's ion beam analysis (IBA) laboratory has been sampling fine atmospheric particles every Wednesday and Sunday at urban and rural sites in New South Wales. Multi-elemental accelerator-based IBA techniques were used to characterise major components and significant trace elements with minimum detectable limits close to 1 ng/m3. Observed mass concentrations will be compared with air quality US EPA standards and proposed Australian fine particle NEPM guidelines. Trace elements strongly associated with source fingerprints responsible for high air pollution will also be discussed in this paper.

scholarly journals Source Contributions to Ozone Formation in the New South Wales Greater Metropolitan Region, Australia

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiep Nguyen Duc ◽  
Lisa T.-C. Chang ◽  
Toan Trieu ◽  
David Salter ◽  
Yvonne Scorgie
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Metropolitan Region ◽  
North West ◽  
Ozone Concentrations ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Source Contributions ◽  
Ozone Levels ◽  
Different Parts

Ozone and fine particles (PM2.5) are the two main air pollutants of concern in the New South Wales Greater Metropolitan Region (NSW GMR) region due to their contribution to poor air quality days in the region. This paper focuses on source contributions to ambient ozone concentrations for different parts of the NSW GMR, based on source emissions across the greater Sydney region. The observation-based Integrated Empirical Rate Model (IER) was applied to delineate the different regions within the GMR based on the photochemical smog profile of each region. Ozone source contribution is then modelled using the CCAM-CTM (Cubic Conformal Atmospheric Model-Chemical Transport Model) modelling system and the latest air emission inventory for the greater Sydney region. Source contributions to ozone varied between regions, and also varied depending on the air quality metric applied (e.g., average or maximum ozone). Biogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions were found to contribute significantly to median and maximum ozone concentration in North West Sydney during summer. After commercial domestic, power station was found to be the next largest anthropogenic source of maximum ozone concentrations in North West Sydney. However, in South West Sydney, beside commercial and domestic sources, on-road vehicles were predicted to be the most significant contributor to maximum ozone levels, followed by biogenic sources and power stations. The results provide information which policy makers can devise various options to control ozone levels in different parts of the NSW Greater Metropolitan Region.

scholarly journals Technical Note – AQMEII4 Activity 1: Evaluation of Wet and Dry Deposition Schemes as an Integral Part of Regional-Scale Air Quality Models

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Galmarini ◽  
Paul Makar ◽  
Olivia Clifton ◽  
Christian Hogrefe ◽  
Jesse Bash ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Dry Deposition ◽  
Model Evaluation ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Technical Note ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Evaluation Activity ◽  
Quality Models ◽  
Wet And Dry Deposition ◽  
Regional Air Quality

Abstract. We present in this technical note the research protocol for Phase 4 of the Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII4). This research initiative is divided in two activities, collectively having three goals: (i) to define the current state of the science with respect to representations of wet and especially dry deposition in regional models, (ii) to quantify the extent to which different dry deposition parameterizations influence retrospective air pollutant concentration and flux predictions, and (iii) to identify, through the use of a common set of detailed diagnostics, sensitivity simulations, model evaluation, and reducing input uncertainty, the specific causes for the current range of these predictions. Activity 1 is dedicated to the diagnostic evaluation of wet and dry deposition processes in regional air quality models (described in this paper), and Activity 2 to the evaluation of dry deposition point models against ozone flux measurements at multiple towers with multiyear observations (Part 2). The scope of these papers is to present the scientific protocols for AQMEII4, as well to summarize the technical information associated with the different dry deposition approaches used by the participating research groups of AQMEII4. In addition to describing all common aspects and data used for this multi-model evaluation activity, most importantly, we present the strategy devised to allow a common process-level comparison of dry deposition obtained from models using sometimes very different dry deposition schemes. The strategy is based on adding detailed diagnostics to the algorithms used in the dry deposition modules of existing regional air quality models, in particular archiving land use/land cover (LULC)-specific diagnostics and creating standardized LULC categories to facilitate cross-comparison of LULC-specific dry deposition parameters and processes, as well as archiving effective conductance and effective flux as means for comparing the relative influence of different pathways towards the net or total dry deposition. This new approach, along with an analysis of precipitation and wet deposition fields, will provide an unprecedented process-oriented comparison of deposition in regional air-quality models. Examples of how specific dry deposition schemes used in participating models have been reduced to the common set of comparable diagnostics defined for AQMEII4 are also presented.

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