Abstract
Abstract. A description of the new air quality downscaling model – the urban EMEP (uEMEP) and its combination with the EMEP MSC-W model (European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme Meteorological Synthesising Centre West) – is presented. uEMEP is based on well-known Gaussian modelling principles. The uniqueness of the system is in its combination with the EMEP MSC-W model and the “local fraction” calculation contained within it. This allows the uEMEP model to be imbedded in the EMEP MSC-W model and downscaling can be carried out anywhere within the EMEP model domain, without any double counting of emissions, if appropriate proxy data are available that describe the spatial distribution of the emissions. This makes the model suitable for high-resolution calculations, down to 50 m, over entire countries. An example application, the Norwegian air quality forecasting and assessment system, is described where the entire country is modelled at a resolution of between 250 and 50 m. The model is validated against all available monitoring data, including traffic sites, in Norway. The results of the validation show good results for NO2, which has the best known emissions, and moderately good for PM10 and PM2.5. In Norway, the largest contributor to PM, even in cities, is long-range transport followed by road dust and domestic heating emissions. These contributors to PM are more difficult to quantify than NOx exhaust emission from traffic, which is the major contributor to NO2 concentrations. In addition to the validation results, a number of verification and sensitivity results are summarised. One verification showed that single annual mean calculations with a rotationally symmetric dispersion kernel give very similar results to the average of an entire year of hourly calculations, reducing the runtime for annual means by 4 orders of magnitude. The uEMEP model, in combination with EMEP MSC-W model, provides a new tool for assessing local-scale concentrations and exposure over large regions in a consistent and homogenous way and is suitable for large-scale policy applications.
Highlights
The EMEP MSC-W model is a chemistry transport model which has been developed by the Meteorological Synthesizing Centre – West (MSC-W) of EMEP, the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme, under the UN Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air pollution (LRTAP)
Unlike other urban-scale models, urban EMEP (uEMEP) is intended not just to achieve local-scale modelling for an individual city or area but to provide local-scale modelling over entire countries or continents, providing high-resolution modelling over large areas and allowing air quality assessment and exposure calculations at high resolution everywhere
We provide an overall description of the uEMEP methodology and how it is combined with the “local fraction” scheme in EMEP MSC-W
Summary
The EMEP MSC-W model is a chemistry transport model which has been developed by the Meteorological Synthesizing Centre – West (MSC-W) of EMEP, the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme, under the UN Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air pollution (LRTAP). It is documented in Simpson et al (2012) and has been used for many years mainly for regional and for global applications. The aim of uEMEP (urban EMEP) is to further extend the application of the EMEP MSC-W chemical transport model down to near-street-level modelling. Unlike other urban-scale models, uEMEP is intended not just to achieve local-scale modelling for an individual city or area but to provide local-scale modelling over entire countries or continents, providing high-resolution modelling over large areas and allowing air quality assessment and exposure calculations at high resolution everywhere.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
