Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.1
2.9
Journals
Atmosphere
Special Issues
Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology
share announcement

Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Meteorology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (17 March 2022) | Viewed by 13354

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Rosa Fitzgerald

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
Interests: regional air quality; air quality modeling; dust
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. William R. Stockwell

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Physics, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA
Interests: atmospheric chemistry; air quality modeling; biosphere–atmosphere interactions; public policy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Air quality is important because it affects human health. Furthermore, meteorology affects the transport of emissions and the formation of air pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter. Stagnant high-pressure systems may produce very stable atmospheric conditions with clear skies and high temperatures. These conditions tend to produce high ozone concentration episodes. Clear skies increase the photolysis of ozone, nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde which are major pollutants that affect atmospheric composition. The meteorology of the mixing layer height is a major factor that determines air pollutant concentrations near the Earth’s surface because of its direct effect on volume and because many of the ozone- and particulate matter-producing reactions are concentration-dependent. Meteorology also affects emissions, transport, gas-phase chemistry, deposition to surfaces, and the physics and chemistry of clouds and aerosols, but there remain uncertainties in the scientific understanding of these processes. Additionally, many comprehensive, meteorological 3-D air quality models are available to simulate air quality over scales that range from local to global that require characterizations of meteorology. The goal of this Special Issue is to publish new research on the meteorology that affects air quality. We welcome papers on relevant synoptic meteorology, the planetary boundary layer, field observations, atmospheric physics and chemical processes and improvements in numerical air quality models due to better understanding of the effects of meteorology on air pollutants.

Prof. Dr. Rosa Fitzgerald
Prof. Dr. William R. Stockwell
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • synoptic meteorology
  • planetary boundary layer
  • air quality
  • ozone
  • particulate matter
  • pollutant concentrations
  • mixing height
  • air quality modeling

Published Papers (7 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Editorial

Jump to: Research

2 pages, 159 KiB  
Editorial
Editorial for the Special Issue “Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology”
by Rosa M. Fitzgerald and William R. Stockwell
Atmosphere 2022, 13(12), 2081; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos13122081 - 10 Dec 2022
Viewed by 596
Abstract
This Special Issue of the open-access journal Atmosphere, “Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology”, presents papers that highlight important research showing the relationships between meteorology, emissions and air pollutants, including ozone and particulate matter [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

21 pages, 7695 KiB  
Article
Winter and Wildfire Season Optical Characterization of Black and Brown Carbon in the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez Airshed
by Pamela Lara, Rosa M. Fitzgerald, Nakul N. Karle, Jose Talamantes, Miranda Miranda, Darrel Baumgardner and William R. Stockwell
Atmosphere 2022, 13(8), 1201; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos13081201 - 29 Jul 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1737
Abstract
Black (EBC) and Brown (BrC) Carbon are ubiquitous constituents of atmospheric particulate matter that affect people’s health, disrupt ecosystems, and modulate local and global climate. Tracking the local deposition and sources of these aerosol particles is essential to better understanding their multidimensional environmental [...] Read more.
Black (EBC) and Brown (BrC) Carbon are ubiquitous constituents of atmospheric particulate matter that affect people’s health, disrupt ecosystems, and modulate local and global climate. Tracking the local deposition and sources of these aerosol particles is essential to better understanding their multidimensional environmental impact. The main goal of the current study is to measure the absorption coefficient (Babs) of particles within the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) of the El Paso (US)–Ciudad Juárez (Mexico) airshed and assess the contribution of black and brown carbon particles to the optical absorption. Measurements were taken during a summer, wildfire, and winter season to evaluate the optical properties of BC and non-volatile BrC. The winter season presented a variation from the background Babs in the late evening hours (3:00 PM to midnight) due to an increase in biomass burning driven by lower temperatures. The wildfire season presents the greatest variation in the Babs from the background absorption due to EBC- and BrC-rich smoke plumes arriving at this region from the US West seasonal wildfires. It was found that the international bridges’ vehicular traffic, waiting time to cross back and forth between both cities, added to other local anthropogenic activities, such as brick kiln emissions in Ciudad Juarez, have created a background of air pollution in this region. These pollutants include carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen and nitric oxides, coarse and fine particulate matter dominated by BC and BrC. The absorption coefficients due to EBC and BrC of this background constitute what we have called a baseline EBC and BrC. Aided by two photoacoustic Extinctiometers (PAX), operating at 405 nm and 870 nm wavelengths, connected to a 340 °C thermal denuder to remove volatile organics, the optical properties were documented and evaluated to identify the impact of long-range transported emissions from western wildfires. The Single Scattering Albedo and the Absorption Ångstrom exponent were calculated for the winter and summer season. The Angstrom exponent showed a decrease during the wildfire events due to the aging process. The High-Resolution Rapid Refresh Smoke model, HRRR, and the Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model, HYSPLIT, were used to estimate the sources of the particles. In addition, a Vaisala Ceilometer was employed to study the vertical profile of particulate matter within the planetary boundary layer. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 13429 KiB  
Article
The Dynamical Role of the Chesapeake Bay on the Local Ozone Pollution Using Mesoscale Modeling—A Case Study
by Zhifeng Yang, Belay Demoz, Rubén Delgado, Andrew Tangborn, Pius Lee and John T. Sullivan
Atmosphere 2022, 13(5), 641; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos13050641 - 19 Apr 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1863
Abstract
This study investigated the dynamic influence of the Chesapeake Bay (CB) on local ozone (O3) concentration and distribution using a weather forecasting model. The Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF–Chem) was employed to simulate O3 production and [...] Read more.
This study investigated the dynamic influence of the Chesapeake Bay (CB) on local ozone (O3) concentration and distribution using a weather forecasting model. The Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF–Chem) was employed to simulate O3 production and transportation near the CB. Baseline (water) as well as sensitivity (nowater) model experiments of bay circulation were carried out with and without bay water by changing the water surface from water to land (loam). First, the model performance simulating O3 was evaluated using the baseline experiment results and AirNow surface wind and O3 observations. The results showed that the model overestimates surface O3 by up to 20–30%. Further, the comparisons of the baseline and sensitivity experiments revealed higher O3 mixing ratios, primarily due to the resulting bay breeze circulation. These increases, after considering model overestimation, represent a mean bay dynamics circulation-induced contribution of up to 10% at night and 5% during the day. Furthermore, the boundary layer over northern CB, where it is at its narrowest width, was higher (by 1.2 km on average) during daytime due to higher surface temperatures observed. The boundary layer depth difference between the northern, central, and southern regions of the bay leads to a differential in the role of bay circulation dynamics in the observed O3 increase. The relatively wider swath of water surface over southern CB resulted in a lower boundary layer depth and stronger breeze circulation and this circulation contributed to O3 concentrations. Moreover, since the case selected has a minimal bay breeze circulation, the associated surface ozone enhancements represent what is expected at least at a minimum. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

13 pages, 1587 KiB  
Article
The Benefits of the Clean Heating Plan on Air Quality in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei Region
by Peng Wang, Min Wang, Mi Zhou, Jianjun He, Xiangzhao Feng, Xiaolin Du, Yu Wang and Yongli Wang
Atmosphere 2022, 13(4), 555; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13040555 - 30 Mar 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1567
Abstract
Coal-to-gas/electricity conversion (hereafter referred to as CTGC/CTEC) as the core project of a clean heating campaign has been widely adopted to replace and reduce the combustion of residential coal in Northern China since 2017. In this study, simulations based on the WRF-Chem model [...] Read more.
Coal-to-gas/electricity conversion (hereafter referred to as CTGC/CTEC) as the core project of a clean heating campaign has been widely adopted to replace and reduce the combustion of residential coal in Northern China since 2017. In this study, simulations based on the WRF-Chem model were carried out to quantitatively assess the impacts of the CTGC/CTEC project on air quality in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei (BTH) region. It was found that the CTGC/CTEC projects exert a remarkable effect on improving the air quality in the BTH region, especially in the plain area. The maximum decrease in the concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 averaged during January can reach 30 and 40 μg/m3, respectively. In addition, the spillover effects due to CTGC/CTEC projects are rather small; that is, the local reduced emissions tend to provide more benefit to the local air quality but less for its surrounding regions. It is also noteworthy that the effects due to meteorological condition changes are comparable with, or even larger, than those due to CTGC/CTEC projects, which are not spatially uniform for the BTH region among various cities. Overall, these results not only demonstrate the effectiveness of CTGC/CTEC projects on air-quality improvement in the BTH region, but also indicate the importance of meteorological conditions in modulating the local air quality. To sustain better air quality in the future, residential coal replacement, all over China, can be further promoted. In addition, continued policy refinement can be essential for the nationwide implementation of clean heating projects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 2845 KiB  
Article
Seasonal Disparity in the Effect of Meteorological Conditions on Air Quality in China Based on Artificial Intelligence
by Yongli Zhang
Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1670; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12121670 - 13 Dec 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2239
Abstract
Air contamination is identified with individuals’ wellbeing and furthermore affects the sustainable development of economy and society. This paper gathered the time series data of seven meteorological conditions variables of Beijing city from 1 November 2013 to 31 October 2017 and utilized the [...] Read more.
Air contamination is identified with individuals’ wellbeing and furthermore affects the sustainable development of economy and society. This paper gathered the time series data of seven meteorological conditions variables of Beijing city from 1 November 2013 to 31 October 2017 and utilized the generalized regression neural network optimized by the particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO-GRNN) to explore seasonal disparity in the impacts of mean atmospheric humidity, maximum wind velocity, insolation duration, mean wind velocity and rain precipitation on air quality index (AQI). The results showed that in general, the most significant impacting factor on air quality in Beijing is insolation duration, mean atmospheric humidity, and maximum wind velocity. In spring and autumn, the meteorological diffusion conditions represented by insolation duration and mean atmospheric humidity had a significant effect on air quality. In summer, temperature and wind are the most significant variables influencing air quality in Beijing; the most important reason for air contamination in Beijing in winter is the increase in air humidity and the deterioration of air diffusion condition. This study investigates the seasonal effects of meteorological conditions on air contamination and suggests a new research method for air quality research. In future studies, the impacts of different variables other than meteorological conditions on air quality should be assessed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

20 pages, 8467 KiB  
Article
Multi-Scale Atmospheric Emissions, Circulation and Meteorological Drivers of Ozone Episodes in El Paso-Juárez Airshed
by Nakul N. Karle, Rosa M. Fitzgerald, Ricardo K. Sakai, David W. Sullivan and William R. Stockwell
Atmosphere 2021, 12(12), 1575; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12121575 - 27 Nov 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2439
Abstract
Ozone pollution has been prevalent in the El Paso-Juárez Airshed (EPJA), especially in the past few decades, and it has been on the rise recently. The spatial and temporal distribution of the tropospheric ozone and several key meteorological factors that influence its concentration [...] Read more.
Ozone pollution has been prevalent in the El Paso-Juárez Airshed (EPJA), especially in the past few decades, and it has been on the rise recently. The spatial and temporal distribution of the tropospheric ozone and several key meteorological factors that influence its concentration has not been adequately understood. Therefore, this investigation comprehensively examined 57 high and 48 low ozone episodes occurring in this region during 2013–2019. We found that the interannual ozone concentration in EPJA was strongly affected by anthropogenic emissions. On the other hand, seasonal ozone variations are due to meteorological variables (among them, solar radiation, planetary boundary layer, and winds) in addition to biogenic emission factors. High ozone events are characterized by calm winds, shallow planetary boundary layer (PBL), whereas low ozone events were marked with strong winds, precipitation, and deep PBL. Synoptic and mesoscale wind patterns for these ozone episodes were identified and characterized. Most of the high ozone episodes occurred when an anticyclonic circulation aloft was associated with a 500-mile middle and upper tropospheric high-pressure region over the EPJA. During these events, stable air masses with convective available potential energies (CAPE) values of less than 450 J/kg were found. The importance of surface topography is illustrated by the fact that stations close to the Rio Grande River show a bimodal distribution of wind direction according to the valley axis. High ozone episodes occur with a surface easterly wind that is decoupled from winds above the Franklin mountains. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 1729 KiB  
Article
Study on Air Pollution Behavior of VOCs with Photochemical Monitoring Stations Using EGARCH Model in Southern Taiwan
by Edward Ming-Yang Wu and Shu-Lung Kuo
Atmosphere 2021, 12(9), 1167; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/atmos12091167 - 10 Sep 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1397
Abstract
This study adopted the exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (EGARCH) model to examine the 10 ozone precursors of the highest concentrations among the 54 that were assessed over a number of years at the four photochemical assessment monitoring stations (PAMSs) in the Kaohsiung–Pingtung [...] Read more.
This study adopted the exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (EGARCH) model to examine the 10 ozone precursors of the highest concentrations among the 54 that were assessed over a number of years at the four photochemical assessment monitoring stations (PAMSs) in the Kaohsiung–Pingtung Area in Taiwan. First, the 10 ozone precursors, which were all volatile organic compounds (VOCs), were analyzed using the factor analyses in multiple statistical analyses that had the most significant impact on the area’s ozone formation: mobile pollution factor, which included 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene (C9H12), toluene (C7H8), and Isopropyl benzene (C9H12). Then, taking into consideration that the number sequences might be affected by standardized residuals, this study applied the vector autoregressive moving average-EGARCH (VARMA-EGARCH) model to analyze the correlation between the three VOCs under different polluting activities. The VARMA-EGARCH model in this research included dummy variables representing changing points of variance structures in the variance formula to predict the conditional variance. This process proved able to effectively estimate the relevant coefficients of the three VOCs’ dynamic conditions that changed with time. The model also helped to prevent errors from occurring when estimating the conditional variance. Based on the testing results, this study determined the VARMA(2,1)-EGARCH(1,0) as the most suitable model for exploring the correlation between the three VOCs and meteorological phenomena, as well as the interplay between them in regard to interaction and formation. With the most representative of the three, toluene (TU), as the dependent variable and 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene (TB) and Isopropyl benzene (IB) as the independent variables, this study found it impossible to calculate the TU concentration with TB and IB concentrations in the same period; estimations of TB and IB concentrations with a period of lag time were required because TU was mainly contributed by automobiles and motorcycles in Kaohsiung. TB and IB resulted from other stationary pollution sources in the region besides cars and motorbikes. When TU was evenly distributed and stayed longer in the atmosphere, the TB and IB concentrations were lower, so distribution conditions and concentrations could not be used to effectively estimate the concentration of toluene. This study had to wait until the next period, or when stationary pollution sources started producing TB and IB of higher concentrations during the daytime, in order to estimate the TU concentrations in a better photochemical situation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Air Pollution Meteorology)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-7
Back to TopTop