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www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/6/6467/2006/
doi:10.5194/acpd-6-6467-2006
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under a Creative Commons License.
A physical modeling approach for identification of source regions of primary and secondary air pollutants
1Atmospheric, Marine and Coastal Environment Program, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, P. R. China
2Environmental Central Facility, Institute for the Environment, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, P. R. China
3Department of Mathematics, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, P. R. China
4National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Abstract. This paper describes a simple but practical methodology to identify the contribution of primary and secondary air pollutants from the local/regional emission sources to Hong Kong, a highly urbanized city with complex terrain and coastlines. The meteorological model MM5 coupled with a three-dimensional, mutli-particle trajectory model is used to identify salient aspects of regional air pollutant transport characteristics during some typical meteorological conditions over the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. Several weighting factors are determined for calculating the air mass/pollutant trajectory and are used to evaluate the local and regional contribution of primary pollutants over the PRD to Hong Kong pollution. The relationships between emission inventories, physical paths and chemical transformation rates of the pollutants, and observational measurements are formulated. The local and regional contributions of secondary pollutants are obtained by this conceptual module under different weather scenarios. Our results demonstrate that major pollution sources over Hong Kong come from regional transport. In calm-weather situations, 78% of the respirable suspended particulates (RSP) totals in Hong Kong are contributed by regional transport, and 49% are contributed by the power plants within the PRD. In normal-day situations, 71% of the RSP are contributed by regional transport, and 45% are contributed by the power plants.
Discussion Paper (PDF, 847 KB) Supplement (13275 KB) Interactive Discussion (Closed, 2 Comments) Publication in ACP not foreseen
Citation: Lo, J. C. F., Lau, A. K. H., Yuan, Z. B., Fung, J. C. H., and Chen, F.: A physical modeling approach for identification of source regions of primary and secondary air pollutants, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 6, 6467-6496, doi:10.5194/acpd-6-6467-2006, 2006. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
