The EMEP MSC-W Modelling Programme: Its Relationship to Policy Support, Current Challenges and Future Perspectives

Abstract

The EMEP MSC-W group have as their main aim the support of air pollution policy in Europe, primarily under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, but also for the European Commission. Traditionally, the EMEP MSC-W model has covered all of Europe with a grid-size of about 50 km, and extending vertically from ground level to the tropopause (100 hPa). The model has undergone substantial development in recent years, and is now applied on scales ranging from local (ca. 5 km grid size) to global. The main scientific challenges include those associated with e.g. formation of organic aerosols, but all activities are limited by uncertain inputs, particularly emissions (e.g. BVOC), and too few measurements of key compounds. In a longer-term perspective EMEP needs to develop links covering a range of scales and issues, including the interaction with Earth-system models.