Seasonality of the meteorological
processes governing the regional transport of atmospheric pollutants.
Dr. Jose
Luis Palau
jlp@confluencia.biz
Summary:
To better
understand the processes involved in transport and dispersion of atmospheric
pollutants on the Western Mediterranean basin, we must consider the regional
scales. In this sense, the results of studies financed by the European
Commission during the last 20 years with respect to this basin have shown the
importance of mesoscale phenomena in air quality on
Mediterranean urban areas.
The purpose of this
project is the seasonal characterization (spring versus summer) of the
meteorological processes that regulate the dispersion and transport of pollutant
gases and aerosols, as well as the feedbacks and synergism associated to them.
It is hence that this investigation is framed inside the seventh thematic
priority of the National Subprogram of
Atmosphere, Climate and Climatic
Change, belonging to the National Program of Biodiversity, Earth Sciences
and Global Change (National Plan of Scientific Investigation and Technological
Innovation 2004-2007).
It is an applied investigation project that seeks
to give answer to the growing necessity of a better characterization of the air
quality. This way, the general aim of this project is the characterization of the seasonality of the meteorological processes
that govern the dispersion and the transport of atmospheric pollutants
throughout the mediterranean coasts of the Iberian
Peninsula, as well as the feedbacks and synergism associated to the same ones.
This
general aim is approached starting from the development of three specific
objectives:
1.
To characterize the
seasonal variation of the probable paths of regional transport and of their
continuity with the mechanisms of transport in Southern Europe. In order to do
so, a meteorological model (RAMS) will be run. This model will allow to
describe, at a regional scale, the transport conditions in scenarios that are representative
of the spring and summer seasons in Southern Europe (particularly in the
Mediterranean western basin); identifying (a) the main paths of the air masses,
(b) the mechanisms of regional transport, and (c) the continuity with the mesoscale processes that are developed in the Iberian
Peninsula.
2.
To identify and
characterize the scenarios that are representative of the inter-regional
transport of atmospheric pollutants throughout the Mediterranean coast of the
Iberian Peninsula during spring and summer. To achieve this, it is sought to
characterize, by means of mesometeorological (RAMS)
and dispersive (HYPACT) simulations, the influence that the mesoscale
atmospheric dynamics has in the advecion of
pollutants in coastal mountainous areas. The analysis of the seasonal
variations will be carried out by means of the comparative study of (a) the
drainage winds, (b) the interface earth-sea, (c) the orographic
injections, (d) recirculations, and (e) the
disturbance of atmospheric synoptic flow.
3.
To divulge the results on a
national-wide scale (mainly through an Ozone project with the Ministry of
Environment and the atmosphere working groups that this Ministry coordinates)
and on the European-wide scale (mainly through the Network of Excellence
ACCENT, the COST 728 action and the
integrated project CarboEurope-IP).
The obtained
results are expected to be useful to complement the tasks of surveillance and
prediction of the air quality in the regions of the Mediterranean side, when
increasing the knowledge of the relationships between the mesoscale
meteorology of the Mediterranean basin and the levels of concentration of
expected atmospheric pollutants. Additionally, in the European scientific scope
in which the investigating group requesting this project participates, the
results of this project are expected to supply additional evidences to the
existing ones in connection with the peculiarities of the dispersion of
pollutants in the Mediterranean basin, so that they are compared to the
dispersive processes observed in Northern Europe (mainly under neutral
stability conditions).