TY - JOUR A1 - Kuik, Friderike A1 - Lauer, Axel A1 - Churkina, Galina A1 - Van der Gon, Hugo A. C. Denier A1 - Fenner, Daniel A1 - Mar, Kathleen A. A1 - Butler, Tim M. T1 - Air quality modelling in the Berlin-Brandenburg region using WRF-Chem v3.7.1: sensitivity to resolution of model grid and input data JF - Geoscientific model development : an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union N2 - Air pollution is the number one environmental cause of premature deaths in Europe. Despite extensive regulations, air pollution remains a challenge, especially in urban areas. For studying summertime air quality in the Berlin–Brandenburg region of Germany, the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) is set up and evaluated against meteorological and air quality observations from monitoring stations as well as from a field campaign conducted in 2014. The objective is to assess which resolution and level of detail in the input data is needed for simulating urban background air pollutant concentrations and their spatial distribution in the Berlin–Brandenburg area. The model setup includes three nested domains with horizontal resolutions of 15, 3 and 1 km and anthropogenic emissions from the TNO-MACC III inventory. We use RADM2 chemistry and the MADE/SORGAM aerosol scheme. Three sensitivity simulations are conducted updating input parameters to the single-layer urban canopy model based on structural data for Berlin, specifying land use classes on a sub-grid scale (mosaic option) and downscaling the original emissions to a resolution of ca. 1 km × 1 km for Berlin based on proxy data including traffic density and population density. The results show that the model simulates meteorology well, though urban 2 m temperature and urban wind speeds are biased high and nighttime mixing layer height is biased low in the base run with the settings described above. We show that the simulation of urban meteorology can be improved when specifying the input parameters to the urban model, and to a lesser extent when using the mosaic option. On average, ozone is simulated reasonably well, but maximum daily 8 h mean concentrations are underestimated, which is consistent with the results from previous modelling studies using the RADM2 chemical mechanism. Particulate matter is underestimated, which is partly due to an underestimation of secondary organic aerosols. NOx (NO + NO2) concentrations are simulated reasonably well on average, but nighttime concentrations are overestimated due to the model's underestimation of the mixing layer height, and urban daytime concentrations are underestimated. The daytime underestimation is improved when using downscaled, and thus locally higher emissions, suggesting that part of this bias is due to deficiencies in the emission input data and their resolution. The results further demonstrate that a horizontal resolution of 3 km improves the results and spatial representativeness of the model compared to a horizontal resolution of 15 km. With the input data (land use classes, emissions) at the level of detail of the base run of this study, we find that a horizontal resolution of 1 km does not improve the results compared to a resolution of 3 km. However, our results suggest that a 1 km horizontal model resolution could enable a detailed simulation of local pollution patterns in the Berlin–Brandenburg region if the urban land use classes, together with the respective input parameters to the urban canopy model, are specified with a higher level of detail and if urban emissions of higher spatial resolution are used. Y1 - 2016 U6 - https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-4339-2016 SN - 1991-959X SN - 1991-9603 VL - 9 SP - 4339 EP - 4363 PB - Copernicus CY - Göttingen ER - TY - GEN A1 - Kuik, Friderike A1 - Lauer, Axel A1 - Churkina, Galina A1 - Denier Van der Gon, Hugo Anne Cornelis A1 - Fenner, Daniel A1 - Mar, Kathleen A. A1 - Butler, Tim M. T1 - Air quality modelling in the Berlin–Brandenburg region using WRF-Chem v3.7.1 BT - sensitivity to resolution of model grid and input data T2 - Postprints der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe N2 - Air pollution is the number one environmental cause of premature deaths in Europe. Despite extensive regulations, air pollution remains a challenge, especially in urban areas. For studying summertime air quality in the Berlin-Brandenburg region of Germany, the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) is set up and evaluated against meteorological and air quality observations from monitoring stations as well as from a field campaign conducted in 2014. The objective is to assess which resolution and level of detail in the input data is needed for simulating urban background air pollutant concentrations and their spatial distribution in the Berlin-Brandenburg area. The model setup includes three nested domains with horizontal resolutions of 15, 3 and 1 km and anthropogenic emissions from the TNO-MACC III inventory. We use RADM2 chemistry and the MADE/SORGAM aerosol scheme. Three sensitivity simulations are conducted updating input parameters to the single-layer urban canopy model based on structural data for Berlin, specifying land use classes on a sub-grid scale (mosaic option) and downscaling the original emissions to a resolution of ca. 1 km x 1 km for Berlin based on proxy data including traffic density and population density. The results show that the model simulates meteorology well, though urban 2m temperature and urban wind speeds are biased high and nighttime mixing layer height is biased low in the base run with the settings described above. We show that the simulation of urban meteorology can be improved when specifying the input parameters to the urban model, and to a lesser extent when using the mosaic option. On average, ozone is simulated reasonably well, but maximum daily 8 h mean concentrations are underestimated, which is consistent with the results from previous modelling studies using the RADM2 chemical mechanism. Particulate matter is underestimated, which is partly due to an underestimation of secondary organic aerosols. NOx (NO + NO2) concentrations are simulated reasonably well on average, but nighttime concentrations are overestimated due to the model's underestimation of the mixing layer height, and urban daytime concentrations are underestimated. The daytime underestimation is improved when using downscaled, and thus locally higher emissions, suggesting that part of this bias is due to deficiencies in the emission input data and their resolution. The results further demonstrate that a horizontal resolution of 3 km improves the results and spatial representativeness of the model compared to a horizontal resolution of 15 km. With the input data (land use classes, emissions) at the level of detail of the base run of this study, we find that a horizontal resolution of 1 km does not improve the results compared to a resolution of 3 km. However, our results suggest that a 1 km horizontal model resolution could enable a detailed simulation of local pollution patterns in the Berlin-Brandenburg region if the urban land use classes, together with the respective input parameters to the urban canopy model, are specified with a higher level of detail and if urban emissions of higher spatial resolution are used. T3 - Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe - 531 KW - urban canopy model KW - aqmeii phase-2 KW - Mexico-City KW - Heat-Island KW - ozone KW - performance KW - transport KW - chemistry KW - meteorology KW - simulation Y1 - 2019 U6 - http://nbn-resolving.de/urn/resolver.pl?urn:nbn:de:kobv:517-opus4-410131 SN - 1866-8372 IS - 531 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Mar, Kathleen A. A1 - Unger, Charlotte A1 - Walderdorff, Ludmila A1 - Butler, Tim T1 - Beyond CO2 equivalence BT - The impacts of methane on climate, ecosystems, and health JF - Environmental science & policy N2 - In this article we review the physical and chemical properties of methane (CH4) relevant to impacts on climate, ecosystems, and air pollution, and examine the extent to which this is reflected in climate and air pollution governance. Although CH4 is governed under the UNFCCC climate regime, its treatment there is limited to the ways in which it acts as a "CO2 equivalent" climate forcer on a 100-year time frame. The UNFCCC framework neglects the impacts that CH4 has on near-term climate, as well its impacts on human health and ecosystems, which are primarily mediated by methane's role as a precursor to tropospheric ozone. Frameworks for air quality governance generally address tropospheric ozone as a pollutant, but do not regulate CH4 itself. Methane's climate and air quality impacts, together with its alarming rise in atmospheric concentrations in recent years, make it clear that mitigation of CH4 emissions needs to be accelerated globally. We examine challenges and opportunities for further progress on CH4 mitigation within the international governance landscapes for climate change and air pollution. KW - Methane KW - Climate governance KW - Air pollution KW - International policy KW - Short-lived climate pollutants KW - Global warming potential Y1 - 2022 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2022.03.027 SN - 1462-9011 SN - 1873-6416 VL - 134 SP - 127 EP - 136 PB - Elsevier CY - Oxford ER - TY - JOUR A1 - von Schneidemesser, Erika A1 - Mar, Kathleen A. A1 - Lawrence, Mark T1 - Klimawandel und Luftverschmutzung JF - Klimaschutz: Wissen und Handeln Y1 - 2021 SN - 978-3-7425-0672-6 SP - 119 EP - 133 PB - bpb, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung CY - Berlin ER -