Modeling Regional/Urban Ozone and Particulate Matter in Beijing, China

• Published in: Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association (1995) 2009-01, Vol.59 (1), p.37-44
• Main Authors: Fu, Joshua S, Streets, David G, Jang, Carey J, Kebin He, jiming Hao, He, Kebin, Wang, Litao, Zhang, Qiang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Air pollution; Air Pollution - analysis; Air quality; Air quality management; Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Carbon dioxide; Chemicals; Chemistry; China; Cities; Environmental aspects; Environmental Monitoring; Exact sciences and technology; Integrated approach; Models, Theoretical; Ozone - analysis; Ozone - chemistry; Particles; Particulate Matter - analysis; Particulate Matter - chemistry; Pollution; Pollution control; Quality standards; Seasons; Studies; Urban areas
• ISSN: 1096-2247; 2162-2906
• DOI: 10.3155/1047-3289.59.1.37

This paper examines Beijing air quality in the winter and summer of 2001 using an integrated air quality modeling system (Fifth Generation Mesoscale Meteorological Model [MM5]/Community Multiscale Air Quality [CMAQ]) in nested mode. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Transport and Chemical Evolution over the Pacific (TRACE-P) emission inventory is used in the 36- (East Asia), 12- (East China), and 4-km (greater Beijing area) domains. Furthermore, we develop a local Beijing emission inventory that is used in the 4-km domain. We also construct a corroborated mapping of chemical species between the TRACE-P inventory and the Carbon Bond IV (CB-IV) chemical mechanism before the integrated modeling system is applied to study ozone (O 3 ) and particulate matter (PM) in Beijing. Meteorological data for the integrated modeling runs are extracted from MM5. Model results show O 3 hourly concentrations in the range of 80-159 parts per billion (ppb) during summer in the urban areas and up to 189 ppb downwind of the city. High fine PM (PM 2.5 ) concentrations (monthly average of 75 μg · m -3 in summer and 150 μg · m -3 in winter) are simulated over the metropolitan and down-wind areas with significant secondary constituents. A comparison against available O 3 and PM measurement data in Beijing is described. We recommend refinements to the developed local Beijing emission inventory to improve the simulation of Beijing's air quality. The 4-km modeling configuration is also recommended for the development of air pollution control strategies