Abstract
Regional air quality simulations provide powerful tools for clarifying mechanisms of heavy air pollution and for considering effective strategies for better air quality. This study introduces a new vegetation database for Japan, which could provide inputs for regional meteorological modeling, and estimating emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), both of which are essential components of simulations. It includes newly developed emission factors (EFs) of BVOCs for major vegetation types in Japan, based on existing literature. The new database contributes to improved modeling of meteorological fields due to its updated representation of larger urban areas. Using the new vegetation and EF database, lower isoprene and monoterpene, and higher sesquiterpene emissions are estimated for Japan than those derived from previously available default datasets. These slightly reduce the overestimation of ozone concentrations obtained by a regional chemical transport model, whereas their effects on underestimated secondary organic aerosol (SOA) concentrations are marginal. Further work is necessary, not only on BVOC emissions but also the other simulation components, to further improve the modeling of ozone and SOA concentrations in Japan.
Highlights
Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) emitted from vegetation have critical roles in photochemical reactions, producing harmful ambient pollutants including ozone and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) (e.g., [1])
Kota et al [7] showed that the default database over-predicted biogenic isoprene in northern downtown Houston, which resulted in higher SOA concentrations being predicted by their simulations
Sakulyanontvittaya et al [8] created a new database of land use and land cover (LULC) and plant functional types (PFTs) based on satellite data for central Alberta, Canada, which outperformed the default database when estimating biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) emissions
Summary
Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) emitted from vegetation have critical roles in photochemical reactions, producing harmful ambient pollutants including ozone and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) (e.g., [1]). This database does not necessarily reflect the detailed characteristics of vegetation in each country. Kim et al [6] created a database of plant functional types (PFTs) based on Korea-specific vegetation database. They found noticeable disparities in simulated ozone concentrations when estimating BVOC emissions using their database versus the default database. Kota et al [7] showed that the default database over-predicted biogenic isoprene in northern downtown Houston, which resulted in higher SOA concentrations being predicted by their simulations. Sakulyanontvittaya et al [8] created a new database of land use and land cover (LULC) and PFTs based on satellite data for central Alberta, Canada, which outperformed the default database when estimating BVOC emissions
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