Impacts of On‐Road Vehicular Emissions on U.S. Air Quality: A Comparison of Two Mobile Emission Models (MOVES and FIVE)

• Published in: Journal of geophysical research. Atmospheres 2024-10, Vol.129 (20), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Ma, Siqi, Tong, Daniel, Harkins, Colin, McDonald, Brian C., Wang, Chi‐Tsan, Li, Yunyao, Baek, Bok H., Woo, Jung‐Hun, Zhang, Yang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution; Air quality; Air quality assessments; Air quality forecasting; Air quality management; Air quality models; Chemical transport; Cities; Datasets; Electric vehicles; Emission inventories; Emissions; Environmental protection; FIVE; Meteorological conditions; Motor vehicles; MOVES; Nitrogen; Nitrogen compounds; Nitrogen dioxide; Nitrogen oxides; Nitrogen oxides emissions; Ocean models; on‐road emission; Organic compounds; Outdoor air quality; Ozone; Particulate emissions; Particulate matter; Photochemicals; Pollutants; Pollution control; Pollution sources; Roads; Roads & highways; Simulators; Suspended particulate matter; Urban air; Urban air quality; Urban areas; Vehicle emissions; Vehicles; VOCs; Volatile organic compounds
• ISSN: 2169-897X; 2169-8996
• DOI: 10.1029/2024JD041494

On‐road vehicles are significant contributors to air pollution globally, particularly to nitrogen oxides (NOx) and ozone (O3). Quantifying their contribution to air quality is crucial to understanding the trends of vehicle emissions as low‐ and “zero” emission vehicles join the fleet. Modeling on‐road emissions is complex due to various factors like fleet activities, traffic patterns, and meteorological conditions. We compare on‐road emissions from two mobile models: the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fuel‐based Inventory of Vehicle Emission (FIVE) and the US Environmental Protection Agency Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES), finding they contribute 4%–33% to volatile organic compounds (VOCs), NOx, and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the contiguous United States (CONUS). Using a regional chemical transport model, we assess air quality effects under different emission scenarios. Both emission data sets yield satisfactory performance, with MOVES showing lower biases in ozone (O3) and PM2.5 over CONUS, while FIVE performs better at city scales due to higher urban NOx emissions. In January, on‐road emissions increased surface O3 over western and southern US by up to 9.1%–13.1% but decreased by 2.5% over the northeastern US, while PM2.5 predictions vary across the US (−85% to 24%). In July, on‐road emissions elevate O3 and PM2.5 concentrations by 15%–20% across CONUS, except in some west coast cities. They also greatly contribute to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) by more than 80% near roads and in urban areas. This study highlights the significant impact of on‐road emissions on urban air quality and provides insights for improving air quality forecasting and management. Plain Language Summary On‐road vehicles are major sources of air pollution worldwide, emitting harmful pollutants. It is important to quantify their contribution and document how air quality improves with more electric vehicles joining the fleet. This study compares two emission data sets produced from two mobile source emission models, FIVE and MOVES, and finds differences in major pollutants such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and the evaluations showed that both on‐road emissions perform well for ozone (O3) and PM2.5 predictions, meeting the performance criteria. We look into the contributions of on‐road sources by simulating air quality with and without on‐road emissions. We found that on‐road emissions incre