Grantee Research Project Results
2011 Progress Report: Analysis of the Co-benefits of Greenhouse Gas Abatement for Global and US Air Quality under Future Climate Scenarios
EPA Grant Number: R834285Title: Analysis of the Co-benefits of Greenhouse Gas Abatement for Global and US Air Quality under Future Climate Scenarios
Investigators: West, J. Jason , Hanna, Adel , Smith, Steven J. , Horowitz, Larry W. , Emmons, Louisa , Vizuete, William
Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory , NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory , National Center for Atmospheric Research
Current Institution: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , NOAA Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory , National Center for Atmospheric Research , Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
EPA Project Officer: Chung, Serena
Project Period: September 1, 2009 through August 31, 2013
Project Period Covered by this Report: September 1, 2010 through August 31,2011
Project Amount: $300,000
RFA: Adaptation for Future Air Quality Analysis and Decision Support Tools in Light of Global Change Impacts and Mitigation (2008) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Air , Climate Change
Objective:
Actions to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) will affect air quality directly through reductions in emissions of co-emitted air pollutants, and indirectly through changes in global climate. Research on the effects of climate change on air quality has emphasized meteorological downscaling to translate future climate change from general circulation models (GCMs) to a regional scale. Here, we propose to emphasize methods of chemical downscaling, in which future climate and pollutant emissions will be simulated in a global chemical transport model (CTM), to provide initial and boundary conditions for a U.S.-focused regional CTM. We use these methods to address the air quality co-benefits of actions to reduce GHG emissions, both globally and in the United States, by analyzing the mitigation of methane emissions and the control of GHGs generally, in future scenarios to 2050.
Progress Summary:
We have published one journal article supported by this project (Smith et al., 2011), demonstrating methods to evaluate air pollutant concentrations in a global CTM as part of the process of developing RCP scenarios. We have likewise made substantial progress toward the goals of this study. This work has included the completion of meteorological downscaling using WRFv3.2 for Task 1. We also have made substantial progress in preparing the inputs to MOZART-4 for Task 2. This involved completing methods for processing emissions for RCP scenarios to input files for MOZART-4. In addition, work is underway to produce the global meteorological inputs for MOZART-4, based on the GCM simulations of RCP scenarios conducted at GFDL.
Future Activities:
We anticipate finishing Task 1 and submitting a manuscript in the coming year. Our next steps will focus on the downscaling for this part of the project, mainly CMAQ simulations. For Task 2, our future work will emphasize simulations with MOZART-4. We anticipate submitting a paper on the main ideas of Task 2, on "co-benefits of greenhouse gas mitigation," using MOZART-4 at the global scale, within the coming year. Dr. West will lead that research. Beyond this initial investigation, we will emphasize downscaling to the United States, and Mr. Zhang will lead this investigation, with support from the entire modeling team. Finally, we continue to consider ways of expanding this work beyond the investigations planned here.
Journal Articles on this Report : 1 Displayed | Download in RIS Format
| Other project views: | All 15 publications | 6 publications in selected types | All 6 journal articles |
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Smith SJ, West JJ, Kyle P. Economically consistent long-term scenarios for air pollutant emissions. Climatic Change 2011;108(3):619-627. |
R834285 (2009) R834285 (2011) R834285 (2012) R834285 (Final) |
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Supplemental Keywords:
RFA, Air, Atmosphere, Air Pollution Effects, climate change, air quality, environmental monitoring, GHGRelevant Websites:
http://www.unc.edu/~jjwest/ Exit
Progress and Final Reports:
Original AbstractThe perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.