AAAR 34th Annual Conference
October 12 - October 16, 2015
Hyatt Regency
Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
Abstract View
Spatiotemporal Comparison of Highly-Resolved Emissions and Concentrations of Carbon Dioxide and Criteria Pollutants in Salt Lake City, Utah
DANIEL MENDOZA, John Lin, Logan Mitchell, James Ehleringer, University of Utah
Abstract Number: 570 Working Group: Urban Aerosols
Abstract This study addresses the need for robust highly-resolved emissions and concentration data required for planning purposes and policy development aimed at managing pollutant sources. We show a reproducible approach to estimating human exposures with a systematic quantification of uncertainties.
We present emissions inventories and modeled concentrations for carbon dioxide (CO2) and criteria pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), lead (Pb), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), and sulfur oxides (SOx) for Salt Lake County, Utah. We compare the resulting concentrations against stationary and mobile measurement data.
The emissions inventory for CO2 is based on the Hestia emissions data inventory which resolves emissions at an hourly, building and road link resolution and also includes hourly gridded emissions at a 0.002o x 0.002o spatial resolution. Two methods were used to derive emissions inventory for the criteria pollutants. One was constructed using methods similar to Hestia but bases total emissions on the 2011 National Emissions Inventory (NEI). The other used Emission Modeling Clearinghouse spatial and temporal surrogates to downscale the NEI data from annual and county-level resolution to hourly and 0.002o x 0.002o. The gridded emissions from both criteria pollutant methods were compared against the Hestia CO2 gridded data to characterize spatial similarities and differences between them. Correlations were calculated at multiple scales of gridded emissions aggregation.
The CALPUFF puff dispersion models was used to transport emissions and estimate air pollutant concentrations at an hourly 0.002o x 0.002o resolution. The resulting concentrations were spatially compared in the same manner as the emissions. Modeled results were compared against stationary measurements and from equipment mounted atop a light rail car in the Salt Lake City area. The comparison between both approaches to emissions estimation and resulting concentrations highlights spatial locations and hours of high variability and uncertainty.