Article
Environmental Sciences
Steven J. Smith, Erin E. McDuffie, Molly Charles
Summary: Emissions of fine particulate matter, precursors to tropospheric ozone, and their impacts on human health, ecosystems, and climate are important considerations. Quantifying these impacts accurately requires accurate, transparent, complete, comparable, and consistent emission inventories. The IPCC is developing a new methodology report to better quantify the emissions and impacts of these pollutants. Coordination between greenhouse gas and air pollutant inventory efforts can have benefits, but differences in methodologies and applications must be considered.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
William S. Daniels, Jiayang Lyra Wang, Arvind P. Ravikumar, Matthew Harrison, Selina A. Roman-White, Fiji C. George, Dorit M. Hammerling
Summary: Government policies and corporate strategies to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas sector are increasingly relying on measurement-informed emission inventories at the site level. Traditional bottom-up inventories are insufficient in capturing the temporal variability and heavy-tailed nature of methane emissions. This study uses an 11-month methane measurement campaign to demonstrate the importance of multiscale measurements and the use of continuous monitoring systems in reconciling top-down measurements and bottom-up inventories.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Lingyu Li, Baowen Zhang, Jing Cao, Shaodong Xie, Yan Wu
Summary: An accurate local biogenic volatile organic compound (BVOC) emission inventory in Shandong Province is crucial for air pollution control in Shandong and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, China. The study estimated the multi-year isoprenoid emissions from natural vegetation in Shandong Province and found that broadleaf trees were the main contributors. Isoprenoid emissions exhibited a peak in summer and were concentrated in the western and southeastern areas, warranting attention.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Environmental Studies
Eun-Mi Been, Young-Kwon Park, Kyung-Tae Kim
Summary: This study aims to propose a reduction of inventory based on non-industrial sectors, emphasizing the important role of local governments in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Despite various policies and systems implemented by the national government to reduce emissions, the policy formulation and implementation by local governments are crucial in achieving effective reduction.
ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Tomohiro Oda, Liang Feng, Paul Palmer, David F. Baker, Lesley E. Ott
Summary: Monitoring national and global greenhouse gas emissions is crucial for the Paris Agreement, and top-down approaches using atmospheric data are useful for verifying emission inventories. However, current methods have limitations in quantifying non-fossil fuel CO2 emissions, and improvement in inventories, measurement methods, and transport models is needed.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
D. Y. Ahn, D. L. Goldberg, Toby Coombes, Gary Kleiman, S. C. Anenberg
Summary: Under the leadership of the C40, approximately 1100 global cities have committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Accurate calculation of emissions at the city-scale is crucial, and this study bridges the gap between city-scale accounting and global-scale gridded datasets. The study finds good correlations between different emission calculation methods for C40 cities, but also highlights the need to prioritize certain measures to reduce discrepancies, such as using local-specific emission factors and incorporating satellite-derived CO2 datasets.
ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiawei Xu, Xin Huang, Nan Wang, Yuanyuan Li, Aijun Ding
Summary: This study focused on ozone pollution in the Yangtze River Delta region during 2013-2017, revealing that ozone pollution in Shanghai was mainly influenced by the prevailing southwesterly wind and exhibited distinct diurnal variation patterns, with significant impacts from anthropogenic pollutants and biogenic volatile organic compounds.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yan-Ni Wang, Yan Cheng, Zhao-Lin Gu, Jing-Ting Yang, Huan-Huan Ren
Summary: This study reports the emission characteristics of organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) from biofuel combustion based on field measurements in rural households in Guizhou Province, China. The results show that firewood burning is the primary contributor to emissions, with higher emission factors compared to crop straw burning. Furthermore, different types of crop straw burning have varying emission characteristics of OC and EC.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Ernesto C. Marujo, Gleice G. Rodrigues, Weber A. N. Amaral, Fernanda Leonardis, Arthur Covatti
Summary: This study presents a method for estimating the total emissions of a company, improving on existing methods by considering emissions correlations. The method analyzes the correlation among emissions to estimate the total emissions and generate a confidence interval.
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
M. Li, B. C. McDonald, S. A. McKeen, H. Eskes, P. Levelt, C. Francoeur, C. Harkins, J. He, M. Barth, D. K. Henze, M. M. Bela, M. Trainer, J. A. de Gouw, G. J. Frost
Summary: This study provides updated fuel-based emission inventories until 2018 and demonstrates the importance of nitrogen oxides in the production of tropospheric ozone and fine particles. The model accurately simulates NO2 columns over CONUS and highlights the differences between point sources (plus urban regions) and non-polluted regions.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2021)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Hailey M. Summers, Evan Sproul, Jason C. Quinn
Summary: The legalization of cannabis has led to a significant increase in commercial production, but the environmental impact of the industry has not been fully quantified. Indoor cultivation of cannabis relies heavily on electricity and natural gas, resulting in substantial greenhouse gas emissions. A life cycle assessment across the United States shows the energy and material costs of indoor cannabis growing operations.
NATURE SUSTAINABILITY
(2021)
Review
Environmental Sciences
Junlian Gao, ChengHe Guan, Bo Zhang
Summary: There is a growing concern over methane emissions from China's oil and natural gas systems due to the carbon neutral target. Studies show that the average methane emissions have tripled from 1980 to 2015, but there are large discrepancies in estimated values, mainly due to differences in emission factors and limited publicly available data. Collaboration and communication are critical for improving methane emission estimates and mitigation strategies in the future.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Yang Liu, Simon Schallhart, Ditte Taipale, Toni Tykka, Matti Rasanen, Lutz Merbold, Heidi Hellen, Petri Pellikka
Summary: This study measured BVOC mixing ratios from two contrasting ecosystems in East Africa, highlighting the differences in isoprene and monoterpene contributions to atmospheric chemistry between humid highlands and dry lowlands. Isoprene and monoterpene emission factors were estimated based on field measurements, showing a peak in isoprene mixing ratios during the daytime and monoterpene mixing ratios during the nighttime. The study also found discrepancies in estimated emission factors for certain BVOCs compared to the widely used biogenic emissions model, MEGAN.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2021)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Efem Bilgic, Gizem Tuna Tuygun, Orhan Gunduz
Summary: In the past few decades, forest fires have increased in number and severity, causing significant damage to land and wildlife in the Mediterranean regions of Turkiye and Greece. This study developed a method to estimate emissions using satellite-based burned area data from major forest fires in the Eastern Mediterranean in July-August 2021. The study used Sentinel-2 satellite images to calculate the normalized burn rate difference index (dNBR) and CORINE Land Cover (CLC) data to detect land cover classes in the burned areas. Emissions of various pollutants were estimated and compared to global fire emission inventories.
ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Wan-Li Lao, Liang Chang
Summary: China, as a major player in the wood-based panel (WBP) industry, has a unique manufacturing process that has not been extensively studied in terms of its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This study aims to quantify the GHG footprint of WBPs produced in China and explore the impact of different methods for estimating delayed emissions of biogenic carbon.
JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Pamela S. Rickly, Matthew M. Coggon, Kenneth C. Aikin, Raul J. Alvarez II, Sunil Baidar, Jessica B. Gilman, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Colin Harkins, Jian He, Aaron Lamplugh, Andrew O. Langford, Brian C. McDonald, Jeff Peischl, Michael A. Robinson, Andrew W. Rollins, Rebecca H. Schwantes, Christoph J. Senff, Carsten Warneke, Steven S. Brown
Summary: Increasing trends in biomass burning emissions significantly impact air quality in North America. The transport of smoke from local and long-range fires has been found to increase the mixing ratios of ozone (O3) in urban areas. This is primarily due to the transport of pyrogenic volatile organic compounds (PVOCs) and the influence of O3 produced within the smoke. Detailed chemical measurements have shown that both local and long-range smoke periods lead to increases in carbon monoxide, background O3, OH reactivity, and total VOCs, while the NOx mixing ratios remain constant. Box-model calculations indicate that local O3 production is in the NOx-sensitive regime, with PVOCs substantially increasing O3 production in the transition and NOx-saturated regimes.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
J. P. Veefkind, R. Serrano-Calvo, J. de Gouw, B. Dix, O. Schneising, M. Buchwitz, J. Barre, R. J. Van der A, M. Liu, P. F. Levelt
Summary: The methane emissions in the Permian basin in the USA were estimated for 2019 and 2020 using satellite observations. The study found that the majority of methane emissions in the basin come from frequent widespread sources, rather than from large unplanned releases. The total methane emissions for the Permian basin and its sub-basins were also estimated.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jonathan M. M. Silberstein, Liora E. E. Mael, Caroline R. R. Frischmon, Emma S. S. Rieves, Evan R. R. Coffey, Trupti Das, William Dresser, Avery C. C. Hatch, Jyotishree Nath, Helena O. O. Pliszka, Colleen E. E. Reid, Marina E. E. Vance, Christine Wiedinmyer, Joost A. A. De Gouw, Michael P. P. Hannigan
Summary: This study examines the impacts of wildfires along the wildland urban interface (WUI) on atmospheric particulate concentrations and composition, and finds that the 2021 Marshall Fire in Colorado has residual impacts on homes within the fire perimeter, with elevated concentrations of biomass burning marker, toxic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and metals in dust samples. These findings suggest a potential threat to human health due to the enhanced concentration of hazardous substances.
AIR QUALITY ATMOSPHERE AND HEALTH
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Gisele Krysztofiak, Valery Catoire, Thierry Dudok de Wit, Douglas E. Kinnison, A. R. Ravishankara, Vanessa Brocchi, Elliot Atlas, Heiko Bozem, Roisin Commane, Francesco D'Amato, Bruce Daube, Glenn S. Diskin, Andreas Engel, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Eric Hintsa, Dale F. Hurst, Peter Hoor, Fabrice Jegou, Kenneth W. Jucks, Armin Kleinboehl, Harry Kuellmann, Eric A. Kort, Kathryn McKain, Fred L. Moore, Florian Obersteiner, Yenny Gonzalez Ramos, Tanja Schuck, Geoffrey C. Toon, Silvia Viciani, Gerald Wetzel, Jonathan Williams, Steven C. Wofsy
Summary: This study examines the trends in N2O concentration from the middle troposphere to the middle stratosphere using in situ and remote sensing observations. It finds a long-term increase in global N2O concentration in the MTMS from 1987 to 2018.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Olivia J. Jenks, Marla P. DeVault, Anna C. Ziola, Melissa A. Morris, Melinda K. Schueneman, Harald Stark, Jose L. Jimenez, Paul J. Ziemann, Joost A. de Gouw
Summary: Organic aerosols have various impacts on climate, visibility, and human health. This study investigates the oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds by NO3 radicals to form secondary organic aerosols. The analysis of the first-generation gas-phase products of this reaction provides insights into the sources of organic nitrate in the atmosphere. The results can aid in the interpretation of field data and improve the representation of this chemistry in models.
ACS EARTH AND SPACE CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kanako Sekimoto, Matthew M. Coggon, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Jeff Peischl, Amber J. Soja, Carsten Warneke
Summary: This study finds that emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from biomass burning, which have impacts on air quality and climate, can be characterized by high- and low-temperature pyrolysis VOC profiles. The variability in VOC speciation is mainly influenced by combustion conditions rather than fuel type. The findings are based on measurements of VOCs obtained during the FIREX-AQ project in 2019 using a proton-transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Zhe Peng, Douglas A. Day, Guy A. Symonds, Olivia J. Jenks, Harald Stark, Anne V. Handschy, Joost A. de Gouw, Jose L. Jimenez
Summary: Lamps emitting at 222 nm, a type of germicidal ultraviolet disinfection (GUV222), have recently gained attention. However, this study found that these lamps can generate significant amounts of ozone (O-3), which can lead to particulate matter formation and negative health impacts. The production of O-3 by these lamps is influenced by factors such as the removal of optical filters and undesired internal electrical discharge. Guidelines should be developed to limit indoor pollution caused by GUV222, and lower fluence rates should be used if possible, especially in low-ventilation conditions. Low-cost sensors for O-3 and particulate matter were found to be ineffective for investigating the chemistry induced by GUV222.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences
Raquel Serrano-Calvo, J. Pepijn Veefkind, Barbara Dix, Joost de Gouw, Pieternel F. Levelt
Summary: COVID-19 caused a significant decrease in fossil fuel demand, economic activity, and hydrocarbon prices. Using satellite imagery, it was observed that NO2 emissions from the oil and gas industry in the Permian basin decreased by approximately 30% during the COVID-19 lockdown, while NO2 tropospheric columns only decreased by approximately 4%. This study highlights the wide-ranging impact of the pandemic on NO2 emissions and demonstrates the potential of satellite monitoring for assessing pollution mitigation strategies in the oil and gas industry.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Kanako Sekimoto, Matthew M. Coggon, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Jeff Peischl, Amber J. Soja, Carsten Warneke
Summary: Laboratory studies have shown that biomass burning emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are mainly affected by combustion conditions rather than fuel type. In this study, ambient smoke emissions from wildfires in the western US were analyzed using positive matrix factorization (PMF) and measured with a mass spectrometer. The results showed that the variability in VOC emissions can be described by high- and low-temperature pyrolysis VOC profiles, which is consistent with previous laboratory findings.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jeff Peischl, Kenneth C. Aikin, Brian C. McDonald, Colin Harkins, Ann M. Middlebrook, Andrew O. Langford, Owen R. Cooper, Kai -Lan Chang, Steven S. Brown
Summary: The COVID-19 pandemic led to lockdowns in the United States, resulting in decreased on-road emissions and lower concentrations of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), and particulate matter (PM2.5). The concentrations of these pollutants generally decreased in 9 U.S. cities during late March and early April, and decadal trends showed decreases in the summer months. The analysis also revealed anomalous increases in pollutants in western U.S. cities during late summer, attributed to wildfire emissions.
ELEMENTA-SCIENCE OF THE ANTHROPOCENE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Hao Guo, Clare M. Flynn, Michael J. Prather, Sarah A. Strode, Stephen D. Steenrod, Louisa Emmons, Forrest Lacey, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Arlene M. Fiore, Gus Correa, Lee T. Murray, Glenn M. Wolfe, Jason M. St. Clair, Michelle Kim, John Crounse, Glenn Diskin, Joshua DiGangi, Bruce C. Daube, Roisin Commane, Kathryn McKain, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Chelsea Thompson, Thomas F. Hanisco, Donald Blake, Nicola J. Blake, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, James W. Elkins, Eric J. Hintsa, Fred L. Moore, Steven C. Wofsy
Summary: The NASA ATom mission collected in situ measurements of key reactive species in air parcels over the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The study found that a large portion of the total reactivity is concentrated in a fraction of all air parcels, supporting previous model-only studies. The results also showed that current global chemistry models can capture much of the heterogeneity in tropospheric chemistry.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Cynthia H. Whaley, Kathy S. Law, Jens Liengaard Hjorth, Henrik Skov, Stephen R. Arnold, Joakim Langner, Jakob Boyd Pernov, Garance Bergeron, Ilann Bourgeois, Jesper H. Christensen, Rong-You Chien, Makoto Deushi, Xinyi Dong, Peter Effertz, Gregory Faluvegi, Mark Flanner, Joshua S. Fu, Michael Gauss, Greg Huey, Ulas Im, Rigel Kivi, Louis Marelle, Tatsuo Onishi, Naga Oshima, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Jeff Peischl, David A. Plummer, Luca Pozzoli, Jean-Christophe Raut, Tom Ryerson, Ragnhild Skeie, Sverre Solberg, Manu A. Thomas, Chelsea Thompson, Kostas Tsigaridis, Svetlana Tsyro, Steven T. Turnock, Knut von Salzen, David W. Tarasick
Summary: This study summarizes recent research on the observations and modeling of tropospheric ozone in the Arctic, revealing significant differences in the seasonal cycles of surface ozone at different locations. The 12 state-of-the-art models used in this study lack the necessary surface halogen chemistry to accurately simulate coastal Arctic surface ozone depletion. The multi-model median underestimates Arctic surface ozone by 5% to 15% depending on the location, and there is a wide variability among the models.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Alkuin M. Koenig, Olivier Magand, Bert Verreyken, Jerome Brioude, Crist Amelynck, Niels Schoon, Aurelie Colomb, Beatriz Ferreira Araujo, Michel Ramonet, Mahesh K. Sha, Jean-Pierre Cammas, Jeroen E. Sonke, Aurelien Dommergue
Summary: This article investigates atmospheric mercury concentrations and redox reactions in the lower free troposphere, and finds a lack of continuous monitoring stations in the Southern Hemisphere. By analyzing data from the Maido mountain observatory for 9 months, it identifies significant diurnal and seasonal variations in atmospheric elemental mercury.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Viral Shah, Daniel J. Jacob, Ruijun Dang, Lok N. Lamsal, Sarah A. Strode, Stephen D. Steenrod, K. Folkert Boersma, Sebastian D. Eastham, Thibaud M. Fritz, Chelsea Thompson, Jeff Peischl, Ilann Bourgeois, Ilana B. Pollack, Benjamin A. Nault, Ronald C. Cohen, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Simone T. Andersen, Lucy J. Carpenter, Tomas Sherwen, Mat J. Evans
Summary: Satellite-based retrievals of tropospheric NO2 columns are widely used to infer NOx emissions. These retrievals rely on model information for the vertical distribution of NO2. Free tropospheric background above 2 km is important for these retrievals and has a significant impact on tropospheric OH and ozone concentrations.
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Jasper Kirkby, Antonio Amorim, Urs Baltensperger, Kenneth S. Carslaw, Theodoros Christoudias, Joachim Curtius, Neil M. Donahue, Imad El Haddad, Richard C. Flagan, Hamish Gordon, Armin Hansel, Hartwig Harder, Heikki Junninen, Markku Kulmala, Andreas Kuerten, Ari Laaksonen, Katrianne Lehtipalo, Jos Lelieveld, Ottmar Moehler, Ilona Riipinen, Frank Stratmann, Antonio Tome, Annele Virtanen, Rainer Volkamer, Paul M. Winkler, Douglas R. Worsnop
Summary: Aerosol particles have significant impacts on public health and climate. The understanding of atmospheric new particle formation has been improved through laboratory measurements at the CERN CLOUD chamber. The study reveals the roles of sulfuric acid, condensable vapours, and stabilizers in new particle formation and provides insights for air quality and climate models.
