Determination of the optimum MM5 configuration for long term CMAQ simulations of aerosol bound pollutants in Europe

Realistic meteorological fields are a prerequisite for the determination of pollutant concentrations and depositions by means of a chemistry transport model. Different configurations of the 5th generation NCAR/Penn State University mesoscale meteorological model MM5 were tested to determine the optimum set up for long term hindcasts that cover several months up to years. Four dimensional data assimilation (FDDA) significantly enhances the spatio temporal representation of temperature, humidity and wind. Best agreement with radiosonde observations could be achieved when temperature, humidity and wind were grid nudged every 6 h. The quality of the resulting meteorological fields showed no significant systematic temporal or spatial variation over Europe in a model run of the year 2000. It was found that the hydrological cycle was not correctly reproduced by the model when no nudging was applied. The relevant model run showed too high relative humidity and too high rainfall when compared to observations. This led to considerably lower aerosol concentrations close to ground and a shift in the deposition patterns of particle bound pollutants like the carcinogenic benzo(a)pyrene (B(a)P). Guest Editor: Dr. S. T. Rao.     

Respiratory uptake kinetics of neutral hydrophobic organic chemicals in a marine benthic fish, Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae

We investigated the respiratory uptake kinetics of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), organohalogen pesticides (OCPs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and 2,2′,4,4′-tetrabrominated diphenyl ether (BDE #47) in a marine benthic fish, Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae. The respiratory uptake efficiencies (E_W) of the chemicals, of which there have been no reports for the majority of persistent organic pollutants (POPs), were obtained by measuring the respiratory uptake rate constants (k₁) and the oxygen consumption rates of fish. Fish were exposed to water in which these chemicals were dissolved at environmentally relevant concentrations for 28 d, followed by 168 d of depuration in clean seawater. The k₁ and E_W values for 99 compounds were obtained, and they ranged from 2000 to 42 000 L kg-lipid⁻¹ d⁻¹ and from 0.060 to 1.3, respectively. The E_W values of the chemicals, except for PAHs, tended to increase with increasing values of the log octanol–water partition coefficients (K_OW) of the chemicals up to a log K_OW of 5. For log K_OW in the range 3–5, the E_W values in this study were much lower than those in a published study (about one-third). As a result of analysis by a two-phase resistance model, the resistance of transport rates to the lipid phase in this study was lower than was the case in the published study. These findings indicate that the E_W predicted by the published study for log K_OW in the range 3–5 may differ among fish species and water temperature, and further study is needed.     

Assessment of the sources and transformations of nitrogen in a plain river network region using a stable isotope approach

The great spatial and temporal variability in hydrological conditions and nitrogen(N)processing introduces large uncertainties to the identification of N sources and quantifying N cycles in plain river network regions. By combining isotopic data with chemical and hydrologic measurements, we determined the relative importance of N sources and biogeochemical N processes in the Taige River in the East Plain Region of China. The river was polluted more seriously by anthropogenic inputs in winter than in summer. Manure and urban sewage effluent were the main nitrate(NO-3) sources, with the nitrification of N-containing organic materials serving as another important source of NO-3. In the downstream, with minor variations in hydrological conditions, nitrification played a more important role than assimilation for the decreasing ammonium(NH+4-N) concentrations.The N isotopic enrichment factors(ε) during NH+4utilization ranged from- 13.88‰ in March to- 29.00‰ in July. The ratio of the increase in δ18O and δ15N of river NO-3in the downstream was 1.04 in January and 0.92 in March. This ratio indicated that NO-3assimilation by phytoplankton was responsible for the increasing δ15N and δ18O values of NO-3in winter. The relationships between δ15N of particulate organic nitrogen and isotopic compositions of dissolved inorganic nitrogen indicated that the phytoplankton in the Taige River probably utilized NH+4preferentially and mainly in summer, while in winter, NO-3assimilation by phytoplankton was dominant.     

反硝化生物滤池的挂膜与启动

研究了反硝化生物滤池的挂膜与启动过程,为反硝化生物滤池的挂膜过程提供理论依据。在滤速1．2ngh（HRT=20min）时,当反硝化生物滤池运行到第25天时,进水硝态氮质量浓度由50mg／L左右下降到25mg／L左右时,硝态氮去除负荷由1．18kg／（m^3·d）下降到1．10kg／（m^3·d）,负荷变化很小,说明挂膜成功。在反硝化生物滤池中,氨氮主要由反硝化细菌的合成作用去除,去除率不高。在碳源和硝态氮浓度都充足的情况下,反硝化反应遵循零级反应动力学规律,反硝化速率与污染物浓度无关,只与反硝化菌的数量有关。     

Regional NOx emission inversion through a four-dimensional variational approach using SCIAMACHY tropospheric NO2 column observations

In this paper, the NOx emission scaling factors applied over the 2001 National Emissions Inventory (NEI) are estimated through a four-dimensional variational (4D-Var) approach using SCIAMACHY (Scanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY) tropospheric NO₂ columns measured during summer 2004. In the “top-down” approach, two-month average NO₂ columns are assimilated into a regional chemical transport model (CTM), STEM, using different assimilation setups. In a basic setup, NOx emissions are adjusted by assimilating the NO₂ columns. A more general setup of emission inversion allows the initial O₃ concentrations be adjusted along with the NOx emissions. A final case is set up to assimilate both the NO₂ columns and O₃ measurement from various platforms while allowing adjustments of both the NOx emissions and the initial O₃ concentrations. It is found that the addition of O₃ measurements did not improve the NOx emission inversion. With the NOx emission at surface and upper levels being adjusted separately, results from four cases show that the elevated NOx emission reduction ranges from 8.9% to 11.4%, and the surface NOx emission reduction is up to 6.6%. All the cases show NOx emission reduction in Ohio valley and Washington, District of Columbia areas.     

Bioavailability of particulate metal to zebra mussels: biodynamic modelling shows that assimilation efficiencies are site-specific

This study investigates the ability of the biodynamic model to predict the trophic bioaccumulation of cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni) and zinc (Zn) in a freshwater bivalve. Zebra mussels were transplanted to three sites along the Seine River (France) and collected monthly for 11 months. Measurements of the metal body burdens in mussels were compared with the predictions from the biodynamic model. The exchangeable fraction of metal particles did not account for the bioavailability of particulate metals, since it did not capture the differences between sites. The assimilation efficiency (AE) parameter is necessary to take into account biotic factors influencing particulate metal bioavailability. The biodynamic model, applied with AEs from the literature, overestimated the measured concentrations in zebra mussels, the extent of overestimation being site-specific. Therefore, an original methodology was proposed for in situ AE measurements for each site and metal.     

Dietary uptake kinetics of polychlorinated biphenyls from sediment-contaminated sandworms in a marine benthic fish (Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae)

To evaluate the dietary uptake of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from live food, we investigated the dietary uptake and depuration kinetics of PCBs in a marine benthic fish (marbled sole, Pseudopleuronectes yokohamae) by using as food live sandworms (Perinereis nuntia) that were laboratory-exposed to field-collected PCB-contaminated sediment. Marbled sole were fed the PCB-contaminated sandworms for 28 d and then uncontaminated sandworms for 56 d. The assimilation efficiencies (AEs) of 84 PCB congeners via the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) to the muscle of the fish ranged from 0.21 to 0.78; whole-body AEs would be lower than those of muscle because of the lower PCB concentrations, on a lipid basis. The AEs determined in this study were lower than those in other studies that used PCB-spiked commercial pelletized food. The lower AEs found in this study might be attributable to differences in the food administered (live sandworms vs. commercial pellet food), possibly because of low digestibility of sandworm lipids by marbled sole. In addition, the AEs in this study tended to increase with increasing log octanol-water partition coefficients (K_OW) up to about seven, although AEs in the other studies using commercial pelletized food did not increase with increasing log K_OW. This result suggests the co-transport of highly hydrophobic PCB congeners along with lipids and fatty acids from the digested sandworms into the GIT epithelium cells. The growth-corrected half-lives of 26 PCB congeners in the muscle of fish ranged from 20 to 107 d.     

三维空气质量模型初始场VOCs同化对臭氧预报的影响

于2023年2月15日—3月8日，采用中尺度数值预报模式/嵌套网格空气质量模式系统（WRF/NAQPMS），分析了初始场同化6项常规大气污染物及挥发性有机物（VOCs）对广东省臭氧（O₃）预报的改进效果。 结果表明，同化6项常规污染物可显著降低O₃预报的标准化平均偏差（NMB）和均方根误差（RMSE），NMB从-26%改善为-8%，RMSE从50.6μg/m³下降到35.0μg/m³。但对相关系数（r）的改善效果不佳，从0.51下降到0.49。相比于只同化常规6项污染物，同时同化VOCs对O₃的预报效果改善较为明显，r从0.49提高到0.63。此外，对NMB和RMSE的改善效果也较好，NMB从-8%改善为-3%，RMSE从35.0μg/m³下降到30.1μg/m³。相比于不同化，同化6项常规污染物的改善效果显著，空气质量指数（AQI）等级预报准确率可提升10%以上，AQI范围预报准确率可提升40%以上。相比于仅同化6项常规污染物，再增加同化VOCs，AQI等级预报准确率和范围预报准确率均提升5%左右，改善程度不高。