Abstract
A modeling framework was proposed to investigate the impact of trans-boundary air pollutant transport on regional air quality. This was based on a combination of the HYSPLIT trajectory model, the CAMx air quality model, and the MM5 meteorological model. The examination of atmospheric PM10 pollution in Guangzhou within the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region of southern China was used as a case study. The HYSPLIT and MM5 models were used to qualitatively identify the dominant PM10 pollutant transport pathways that led to PM10 pollution events in Guangzhou, with five clusters of air mass trajectories being examined. The emission source contribution through each transport pathway to Guangzhou’s PM10 concentration was then quantified using a MM5-CAMx modeling system. The results illustrated that the trans-boundary PM10 transport played a critical role in the formation of PM10 pollution events in Guangzhou, with a mean contribution ratio of nearly 49%. In particular, two air mass trajectory clusters that originated from Guangzhou’s surrounding regions were found to be the main pollutant transport pathways, and three surrounding cities (Foshan, Dongguan and Huizhou) had a total emission contribution of nearly 30% to Guangzhou’s PM10 concentration through these two pathways. The emissions from these three cities also accounted for 70 to 94% of the total trans-boundary contributions from Guangzhou’s nine surrounding cities through the five transport pathways. As a result, in order to improve Guangzhou’s air quality, coordinated effort is required to reduce emissions in both Guangzhou itself and its three surrounding cities. It is expected that the presented modeling approach can be applied to air quality studies in many other regions.
Highlights
The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region is located at the Pearl River estuary where the river enters the South China Sea
The simulation performance of the MM5-Comprehensive Air Quality Model with Extensions (CAMx) modeling system is of critical importance for its effective application to air quality management
The simulations results in the grids representing the 16 air quality monitoring stations in the PRD region were compared with the related observations at these monitoring stations
Summary
The Pearl River Delta (PRD) region is located at the Pearl River estuary where the river enters the South China Sea. Lee et al (2007) reported that the enrichment of atmospheric heavy metals in Hong Kong and Guangzhou was closely associated with the air mass from the north and the northeast that originates from northern China. The effect of such trans-boundary air pollutant transport may hamper the efforts that Guangzhou has made to address its air pollution problem. Some previous works have revealed the existence of trans-boundary air pollutant transport from the surrounding areas to Guangzhou (Wang et al, 2005, Lee et al, 2007; Zheng et al, 2010), the dominant transport pathways and their quantitative effects on atmospheric PM10 pollution in Guangzhou still remain poorly characterized
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