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THE CLIMATE-AIR QUALITY SCALE CONTINUUM AND THE GLOBAL EMISSION INVENTORY ACTIVITY
Citation:
Middleton, P. AND W G. Benjey. THE CLIMATE-AIR QUALITY SCALE CONTINUUM AND THE GLOBAL EMISSION INVENTORY ACTIVITY. Presented at Emission Inventory Conference, Atlanta, GA, April 15-18, 2002.
Impact/Purpose:
The goal of this task is to thoroughly characterize the performance of the emissions, meteorological and chemical/transport modeling components of the Models-3 system, with an emphasis on the chemical/transport model, CMAQ. Emissions-based models are composed of highly complex scientific hypotheses concerning natural processes that can be evaluated through comparison with observations, but not validated. Both performance and diagnostic evaluation together with sensitivity analyses are needed to establish credibility and build confidence within the client and scientific community in the simulations results for policy and scientific applications. The characterization of the performance of Models-3/CMAQ is also a tool for the model developers to identify aspects of the modeling system that require further improvement.
Description:
The Global Emissions Inventory Activity (GEIA), a core program activity of the International Global Atmospheric Chemistry (IGAC) Project of the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program, develops data and other related information on key chemical emissions to the atmosphere and communicates through its virtual center at www.geiacenter.org. GEIA inventories are developed by international teams and are quality assured through peer review publications. GEIA inventories are traditionally provided on a one degree latitude by one degree longitude grid, as annual and/or seasonal averages, and are aggregated over emission category sectors for individual chemical inventories. As researchers and decision makers world wide become more concerned about the relationship of global climate change and regional air quality, additional flexibility in tools, more highly resolved spatial scales of inventory development, and enhanced coordination among inventory developers will be needed. To address these growing needs, GEIA plans to distribute other important and quality assured emission information through its web site. New information will include underlying data sets from which the emission data were derived (e.g., activity data), global and regional emission inventory data at finer spatial resolutions and/or more refined temporal resolutions and expanded time periods, algorithms for modeling processes selected natural emissions, references to promising new approaches to emission estimates, such as satellite imagery and inverse modeling, and brief summaries of the state of knowledge regarding emissions of individual chemicals and source categories. Through planning and discussions with its network of over 500 emission data developers and collaborators, GEIA will seek to increase the awareness, development, and exchange of versatile data management systems and plans. With sincere and coordinated global community effort that facilitates modifications and quality assurance of databases, inventories that are more useful for examining the relationship between global climate change and regional air quality can be developed.
This paper has been reviewed in accordance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's peer and administrative review policies and approved for presentation and publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.