Abstract
Abstract. This paper evaluates the contributions of the emissions from mobile, stationary and biogenic sources on air pollution in the Amazon rainforest by using the Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model. The analyzed air pollutants were CO, NOx, SO2, O3, PM2. 5, PM10 and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Five scenarios were defined in order to evaluate the emissions by biogenic, mobile and stationary sources, as well as a future scenario to assess the potential air quality impact of doubled anthropogenic emissions. The stationary sources explain the highest concentrations for all air pollutants evaluated, except for CO, for which the mobile sources are predominant. The anthropogenic sources considered resulted an increasing in the spatial peak-temporal average concentrations of pollutants in 3 to 2780 times in relation to those with only biogenic sources. The future scenario showed an increase in the range of 3 to 62 % in average concentrations and 45 to 109 % in peak concentrations depending on the pollutant. In addition, the spatial distributions of the scenarios has shown that the air pollution plume from the city of Manaus is predominantly transported west and southwest, and it can reach hundreds of kilometers in length.
Highlights
The impacts of anthropogenic emissions from urban areas on the environment and human health have been covered in several scientific studies through different methodologies (Kampa and Castanas, 2008; Martins et al, 2010)
Four measurement sites of meteorological variables and air pollutants concentrations were available in different locations in the study area, as presented in Fig. 1: T1, located within the city of Manaus, at the National Institute for Amazonian Research (INPA); T3, located in the north of Manacapuru, approximately 100 km from Manaus, at stations of the project Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5); Colégio Militar and Federal Institute of Amazonas (IFAM), located in the city of Manaus; and a fourth site associated with the Project REMCLAM Network of Climate Change Amazon from the University of the State of Amazonas (UEA)
For the IFAM station, which is a central site, diurnal peak (e.g., 33.5 ◦C average observed compared to 30.3 ◦C simulated at 14:00 LT) and minimum night (e.g., 24.8 ◦C average observed compared to 26.3 ◦C simulated at 02:00 LT) temperatures were weakly represented
Summary
The impacts of anthropogenic emissions from urban areas on the environment and human health have been covered in several scientific studies through different methodologies (Kampa and Castanas, 2008; Martins et al, 2010). These analyses have shown that the consequences of such emissions go beyond their initial source and can reach even farther during long periods. Most recent studies focus mainly on the aftermath of the anthropogenic emissions from the megacities in the developing world (e.g., Zhu et al, 2013) This has happened because such cities have increased their energy demand, which has been high throughout recent decades (Lutz et al, 2001). Understanding the predominant sources of each pollutant is key to designing successful regulatory policies to improve air quality and bring benefits to public health
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