10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Abstract View
Simulation of Marine Aerosols over the East China Sea Using WRF/CMAQ Modeling System
Mingjie Kang, PENGFEI WANG, Pingqing Fu, Hongliang Zhang, Louisiana State University
Abstract Number: 621 Working Group: Remote/Regional Atmospheric Aerosol
Abstract Marine aerosols exert a strong influence on global climate change and biogeochemical cycling, as oceans cover beyond 70% of the Earth’s surface. However, investigations on marine aerosols are relatively limited at present due to the difficulty and inconvenience in sampling marine aerosols as well as their diverse sources. East China Sea (ECS), lying over the broad shelf of the western North Pacific, is adjacent to the Asian mainland, where continental-scale air pollution could impose a heavy load on the marine atmosphere through long-range atmospheric transport. In this study, two-month (May and June in 2014) marine air quality simulation using Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model was conducted to understand PM2.5 and its chemical components over ECS. Multi-resolution Emission Inventory for China (MEIC) was used for anthropogenic emissions and model performance was validated by comparing observation data obtained over the ECS and coastal cities. The model simulations indicate a significant influence of terrestrial outflow of continental aerosols on the marine atmosphere, which is particularly obvious in days with high abundance. This study demonstrates that CMAQ model can reproduce spatial distribution and concentration of marine aerosols in ECS and more studies are needed to understand the potential effects on air quality and climate of surrounding areas.