Małgorzata Werner

The Effect of Emission from Coal Combustion in Nonindustrial Sources on Deposition of Sulfur and Oxidized Nitrogen in Poland

Abstract Poland has one of the largest sulfur and nitrogen emissions in Europe. This is mainly because coal is a main fuel in industrial and nonindustrial combustion. The aim of this paper is to assess the amount of sulfur and nitrogen deposited from SNAP sector 02 (nonindustrial sources) coal combustion. To assess this issue, the Fine Resolution Atmospheric Multipollutant Exchange (FRAME) model was used. The results suggest that industrial combustion has the largest impact on deposition of oxidized sulfur, whereas the oxidized nitrogen national deposition budget is dominated by transboundary transport. The total mass of pollutants deposited in Poland, originating from nonindustrial coal combustion, is 45 Gg of sulfur and 2.5 Gg of nitrogen, which is over 18% of oxidized sulfur and nearly 2% of oxidized nitrogen deposited. SNAP 02 is responsible for up to 80% of dry-deposited sulfur and 11% of nitrogen. The contribution to wet deposition is largest in central Poland in the case of sulfur and in some areas can exceed 11%. For oxidized nitrogen, nonindustrial emissions contribute less than 1% over the whole area of Poland. The switch from coal to gas fuel in this sector will result in benefits in sulfur and nitrogen deposition reduction.

The role of annual circulation and precipitation on national scale deposition of atmospheric sulphur and nitrogen compounds

Atmospheric circulation and rainfall are important factors controlling the deposition of atmospheric pollutants. This paper aims to quantify the role of these factors in the deposition of sulphur and nitrogen compounds, using case studies in the United Kingdom and Poland. The FRAME model has been applied to calculate deposition for the base year (2005), dry and wet years (2003 and 2000 for the UK and 2003 and 1974 for Poland, respectively), and for years with contrasting annual wind patterns (1986 and 1996 for the UK, and 1998 and 1996 for Poland). Variation in annual wind and rainfall resulted in statistically significant changes in spatial patterns of deposition and the national deposition budget of sulphur and nitrogen compounds in both countries. The deposition budgets of S and N are 5% lower than for the reference year if the dry year is considered in both countries. For the wet year, there is an increase in country total deposition by up to 17%. Years with an increased frequency of eastern winds are associated with an increase in deposition of up to 14% in Poland and 8% in the UK. The national deposition budget is below the average for the years with high frequencies of W winds, especially for the UK (up to 13%). Wet deposition varies due to meteorological factors to a larger extent than dry deposition. In Poland, the changes in national deposition budget due to meteorological factors exceed the changes resulting from emission abatements in years 2000-2009 for nitrogen compounds. In the UK, emission abatements influence the national deposition budget to a larger extent than meteorological changes (except for NH(x)). The findings are important in relation to future climate changes, especially considering the potential increase in annual precipitation. This may lead to an increase in deposition over mountainous areas with sensitive ecosystems, where annual rainfall brings significant load of S and N. Changes in annual wind speed and frequency can modify the spatial pattern of deposition. An increased frequency of W winds will benefit both countries through reduced S and N deposition. NW areas of Poland and the UK will suffer from above-average deposition during years with enhanced easterly flow, and this may result in critical loads for acid and nitrogen deposition being exceeded over the areas that are at present sufficiently protected from acidification and eutrophication, despite the ongoing emission abatements.

Quantifying missing annual emission sources of heavy metals in the United Kingdom with an atmospheric transport model.

An atmospheric chemical transport model was adapted to simulate the concentration and deposition of heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, chromium, copper, lead, nickel, selenium, vanadium, and zinc) in the United Kingdom. The model showed that wet deposition was the most important process for the transfer of metals from the atmosphere to the land surface. The model achieved a good correlation with annually averaged measurements of metal concentrations in air. The correlation with measurements of wet deposition was less strong due to the complexity of the atmospheric processes involved in the washout of particulate matter which were not fully captured by the model. The measured wet deposition and air concentration of heavy metals were significantly underestimated by the model for all metals (except vanadium) by factors between 2 and 10. These results suggest major missing sources of annual heavy metal emissions which are currently not included in the official inventory. Primary emissions were able to account for only 9%, 21%, 29%, 21%, 36%, 7% and 23% of the measured concentrations for As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn. A likely additional contribution to atmospheric heavy metal concentrations is the wind driven re-suspension of surface dust still present in the environment from the legacy of much higher historic emissions. Inclusion of two independent estimates of emissions from re-suspension in the model was found to give an improved agreement with measurements. However, an accurate estimate of the magnitude of re-suspended emissions is restricted by the lack of measurements of metal concentrations in the re-suspended surface dust layer.

Modelling meteorological conditions for the episode (December 2009) of measured high PM 10 air concentrations in SW Poland – application of the WRF model

The weather research and forecasting model has been applied to derive information on meteorological variables for the period with high concentrations of PM 10 (1–30 December 2009) in SW Poland. Three one-way nested domains have been used and the results for the innermost domain have been compared with surface and radiosonde meteorological measurements for pressure (PRES), air temperature (TMP), specific humidity (SPFH), wind speed (WIND) and direction (WDIR). The model results are in good agreement with the surface measurements for TMP, PRES and SPFH, with the index of agreement (IOA) above 0.9. The model underestimate the observed PRES, TMP and SPFH except for the mountainous site Śniezka. The WIND is biased high, the overall IOA is 0.62, and range from 0.41 to 0.73 for all stations. The IOA is above 0.73 for TMP and SPFH for radiosonde measurements and the errors decrease with height.

Calculation of Sulphur and Nitrogen Deposition with the Frame Model and Assessment of the Exceedance of Critical Loads in Poland

Abstract Sulphur and nitrogen deposition were calculated with the FRAME model and used to assess the exceedances of the critical loads for acidification and eutrophication of natural ecosystems in Poland. For the first time two tools: the FRAME and SONOX models were used jointly to provide information on ecosystems at risk. The FRAME model obtained close agreement with available sulphur and nitrogen wet deposition measurements. The total mass of sulphur deposited in Poland in year 2008 was estimated as 292 Gg S. Total deposition of nitrogen (oxidized + reduced) is 389 Gg N. 11% of the ecosystems in Poland were calculated to be at risk of acidification due to deposition of sulphur and nitrogen. In the case of eutrophication, over 95% of terrestrial ecosystems are at risk due to the large deposition of nitrogen compounds. Abstrakt W pracy zastosowano model FRAME do obliczenia informacji o depozycji związków siarki i azotu w Polsce. Na tej podstawie określono przekroczenia ładunków krytycznych dla ekosystemów naturalnych. Po raz pierwszy dwa narzędzia, modele FRAME i SONOX, zostały zastosowane razem w celu określenia zagrożenia dla ekosystemów. Wykazano, że depozycja siarki i azotu, obliczona za pomocą modelu FRAME, jest w dobrej zgodności z dostępnymi pomiarami. Całkowita depozycja siarki, zdeponowanej w Polsce w 2008, została określona na 292 Gg S. Masa zdeponowanych związków azotu (utlenionego i zredukowanego) to 389 Gg N. Wykazano, że 11% ekosystemów w Polsce jest zagrożonych nadmiernym zakwaszeniem w wyniku depozycji atmosferycznej siarki i azotu, a ponad 95% ekosystemów lądowych jest zagrożonych eutrofizacją w wyniku depozycji związków azotu.

Modelling emission, concentration and deposition of sodium for Poland

The aim of this paper was to calculate natural and anthropogenic emission of Na + and to estimate, with the FRAME model, annual air concentration and deposition of Na + for the domain covering Poland. Calculations of natural emissions included marine emission and wind blown dust from land. Anthropogenic emission was calculated for both point and area sources. Emission maps were used in fine resolution atmospheric multi-pollutant exchange (FRAME) model, and annual average concentration and total deposition of Na + at the 5 km × 5 km spatial resolution were calculated. A clear gradient from the north and north west towards the centre of Poland is observed for spatial distribution of air concentration and wet deposition of Na + , as sea salt aerosol contributes the majority of Na + deposited in Poland. Comparison of FRAME wet deposition results with available measurements values indicates that the model is capable of reproducing annual deposition of sodium in Poland.

Observed changes in SAT and GDD and the climatological suitability of the Poland-Germany-Czech Republic transboundary region for wine grapes cultivation

In this study, we show how the climatological suitability of wine grapes cultivation of the transboundary region of Poland, Germany and the Czech Republic has changed over the 1971–2010 period. Strong, positive and statistically significant trend in sum of active temperatures (SAT) and growing degree days (GDD) is observed. The trend is more pronounced in the lowland areas of the study region. The total acreage suitable for more demanding, in terms of SAT and GDD, varieties of wine grapes is increasing, while the opposite trend is observed for less demanding classes. The observed trends reduce the risk for wine grapes cultivation in terms of accumulative SAT and GDD indices. This shows that the transboundary area of Poland, Germany and Czech Republic shifts towards the climate more suitable for viticulture.

Sensitivity Study of Cloud Cover and Ozone Modeling to Microphysics Parameterization

AbstractCloud cover is a significant meteorological parameter influencing the amount of solar radiation reaching the ground surface, and therefore affecting the formation of photochemical pollutants, most of all tropospheric ozone (O3). Because cloud amount and type in meteorological models are resolved by microphysics schemes, adjusting this parameterization is a major factor determining the accuracy of the results. However, verification of cloud cover simulations based on surface data is difficult and yields significant errors. Current meteorological satellite programs provide many high-resolution cloud products, which can be used to verify numerical models. In this study, the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF) has been applied for the area of Poland for an episode of June 17th–July 4th, 2008, when high ground-level ozone concentrations were observed. Four simulations were performed, each with a different microphysics parameterization: Purdue Lin, Eta Ferrier, WRF Single-Moment 6-class, and Morrison Double-Moment scheme. The results were then evaluated based on cloud mask satellite images derived from SEVIRI data. Meteorological variables and O3 concentrations were also evaluated. The results show that the simulation using Morrison Double-Moment microphysics provides the most and Purdue Lin the least accurate information on cloud cover and surface meteorological variables for the selected high ozone episode. Those two configurations were used for WRF-Chem runs, which showed significantly higher O3 concentrations and better model-measurements agreement of the latter.

Evaluation of the WRF meteorological model results during a high ozone episode in SW Poland – the role of model initial conditions

In meteorological, as well as air quality, modelling, input data plays an important role in the accuracy of the results, next to the model configuration. There are many sources of meteorological data available, both global and regional, and they differ not only by spatial and temporal resolution, but also by the number of observations included in the reanalysis and method of data assimilation used. In this study, the performance of the weather research and forecasting (WRF) model with two global reanalyses (ERA-Interim and NCEP FNL) used as input datasets has been assessed for a period of high tropospheric ozone concentrations. Both WRF model runs are in good agreement with observations, with IOA statistic ranging from 0.78 for wind speed to 0.98 for surface pressure. The ERA-Interim simulation showed better results for surface pressure, temperature and wind speed, while the performance of both datasets for parameters related to atmospheric moisture (e.g., dew point temperature) was comparable.

The role of precursor emissions on ground level ozone concentration during summer season in Poland

Three online coupled chemical transport model simulations were analyzed for three summer months of 2015 in Poland. One of them was run with default emission inventory, the other two with NOx and VOC emissions reduced by 30%, respectively. Obtained ozone concentrations were evaluated with data from air quality measurement stations and ozone sensitivity to precursor emissions was estimated by ozone concentration differences between simulations and with the use of indicator ratios. They were calculated based on modeled mixing ratios of ozone, total reactive nitrogen and its components, nitric acid and hydrogen peroxide. The results show that the model overestimates ozone concentrations with the largest errors in the morning and evening, which is primarily related to the way vertical mixing is resolved by the model. Better model performance for ozone is achieved in rural than urban environment, as PBL and mixing mechanisms play more significant role in urban areas. Modeled ozone shows mixed sensitivity to precursor concentrations, similarly to other European regions, but indicator ratios have different values than are found in literature, particularly H2O2/HNO3 is larger than in southern Europe. However, indicator ratios often differ between locations and transition values need to be established individually for a given region.