Juan Luis Pérez

BaP (PAH) air quality modelling exercise over Zaragoza (Spain) using an adapted version of WRF-CMAQ model

Benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) is one of the most dangerous PAH due to its high carcinogenic and mutagenic character. Because of this reason, the Directive 2004/107/CE of the European Union establishes a target value of 1xa0ng/m(3) of BaP in the atmosphere. In this paper, the main aim is to estimate the BaP concentrations in the atmosphere by using last generation of air quality dispersion models with the inclusion of the transport, scavenging and deposition processes for the BaP. The degradation of the particulated BaP by the ozone has been considered. The aerosol-gas partitioning phenomenon in the atmosphere is modelled taking into a count that the concentrations in the gas and the aerosol phases. If the pre-existing organic aerosol concentrations are zero gas/particle equilibrium is established. The model has been validated at local scale with data from a sampling campaign carried out in the area of Zaragoza (Spain) during 12 weeks.

Implementation of energy fluxes in EULAG with a new 3D shadow model

Micro urban simulations require high detail information. In order to take into account the building morphology, we have used a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model named EULAG (UCAR) driven by the Weather and Research Forecasting System (WRF) through boundary conditions. A new three-dimensional urban solar radiation model (SHAMO) has been developed by the authors. We present results of the simulation obtained by using a modified version of the EULAG model which includes an energy balance equation to obtain the urban atmosphere/canopy energy exchange with the new 3D shadow model. The radiation model is coupled with the heat transfer equations from urban canopy model (UCM). The data produced by the urban solar radiation model has been used in large scale numerical experiments to simulate turbulent fluxes for urban areas; in this contribution over Madrid (Spain) city. Results of the micro scale simulations and sensitivity analysis will be presented in this paper.

From top-down land use planning intelligence to bottom-up stakeholder engagement for smart cities - a case study: DECUMANUS service products

Intelligence delivered by earth observation (EO) satellites performs a vital role in supporting ICT enabled urban governance, and the creation of decision making tools delivering integrated urban planning. This paper reviews the DECUMANUS project experience, detailing the development of the EO derived tools, and evaluating the service products that facilitate the deployment of top-down expertise in land use planning. The central purpose of the paper is to assess the potential for use of these DECUMANUS high resolution EO images and data, also to support bottom-up participatory planning, promoting co-design. It is concluded: 1) EO derived images and associated data offer great opportunity to deliver top-down decision making tools, which combined with auxiliary data, including participatory sensing data, effectively support integrated urban planning; 2) EO derived images also offer substantial potential as communication tools, enabling citizens to make more informed and responsible choices and participate in co-designed urban planning.

Analysis of fire behaviour simulations over Spain with WRF-FIRE

Wildland fire spread and behaviour are complex phenomena owing to both the number of involved physico-chemical factors, and the non-linear relationship between variables. Spain is plagued by forest and brush fires every summer, when the extremely dry weather sets in along with high temperatures. The use of fire behaviour models requires the availability of high resolution environmental and fuel data; in the absence of real data, errors on the simulated fire spread can be compounded to affect the spatial and temporal accuracy of predicted data. The effect of input values on the accuracy of WRF-FIRE simulations was evaluated to assess the capabilities of the new system for wildland fire in accurately forecasting fire behaviour. The results confirm that the use of accurate meteorological data and a custom fuel moisture content model is crucial to obtain precise simulations of fire behaviour.

Using WRF-CMAQ Air Quality Modelling System to Estimate BaP Concentrations over Zaragoza (Spain)

The main aim is to estimate the BaP concentrations in the atmosphere and know the main influences on BaP ground level concentrations. We have utilized CMAQ 4.7 version as core for our system. BaP degradation and adsorption mechanism have been integrated into the chemical-transport model. Emissions have been processed the EMIMO-UPM emission model with a top-down approach including detailed GIS data. The air quality model has been driven by the WRF meteorological model. Urban particulate material generally contains a significant amount of amorphous organic carbon. Absorptive mechanism plays the dominant role in the urban air and also in air affected by urban sources. Equilibrium partitioning calculations are based on absorptive partitioning model. Gas/particle partitioning of BaP is simulated as an absorption process into the organic mass on the aerosol particle assuming the formation of a quasi-ideal solution. BaP reaction with ozone is an important degradation pathway of the particulate BaP in the atmosphere. The degradation rate constant depends on the ozone gas to surface equilibrium constant and the maximum rate coefficient that would be observed at high ozone concentrations. A validation process of the BaP and other pollutant results has been conducted in the urban area of Zaragoza (Spain) during 10 weeks in 2010. The agreement is generally satisfactory. The simulated concentrations depend on the meteorological and emission inputs.

The Impact of a Wildland Fire on Air Pollution Concentrations Using WRF/Chem/Fire: An Application over Murcia (Spain)

In this contribution we will show the impact on air pollution concentration of a Fire developed in the Surrounding area of Murcia (Spain). The impact on air pollution concentrations has been done using the WRF/Chem model developed by NCAR (US) and the Fire model implemented into WRF in on-line mode. The fire spread has been considered in on-line mode to change the use of the different land use grid cells as the fire spreads. This process changes the land use and affects substantially to the Fuel Moisture Content (FMC) modifying the surface turbulent energy balance and the pollution dispersion consequently. A new fuel moisture content model has been developed. The new module allows each time step to calculate the fuel moisture content of the dead fuels (1 h, 10 h, and 100 h) and live fuels. Two simulations have been performed over the Murcia area on September, 7th, 2010 with 9 h of fire starting at 19:09 over an area of 7 km × 7 km: (a) with a fire of 9 h simulation we run the WRF/Chem with 200 m spatial resolution over the fire domain in on-line mode with FIRE model. Emissions from fire have been accounted on; and (b) the same simulation than in case (a) but without fire (no emissions and no changes in the land use).

Operational short term health impact assessment of air pollution modelling system over Europe

The last decade, scientific studies have indicated an association between air pollution to which people are exposed and wide range of adverse health outcomes. We have developed a tool which is based on a model (MM5-CMAQ) running over Europe with 50 km spatial resolution, based on EMEP annual emissions, to produce a short-term forecast of the impact on health. In order to estimate the mortality change (forecasted for the next 24 hours) we have chosen a log-linear (Poisson) regression form to estimate the concentration-response function. The parameters involved in the C-R function have been estimated based on epidemiological studies, which have been published. Finally, we have derived the relationship between concentration change and mortality change from the C-R function which is the final health impact function.