Quantifying pollution inflow and outflow over East Asia in spring with regional and global models by Meiyun Lin(Princeton U), Tracey Holloway (U Wisconsin), Greg Carmichael (U Iowa), and Arlene Fiore explores two high-resolution atmospheric chemistry models to examine the role of mesoscale versus synoptic scale processes in controlling pollution export from East Asia. Their results indicate the importance of rapid pollution venting through deep convection that develops along the leading edge of frontal system convergence bands. This transport mechanism is well captured in a high-resolution climate-chemistry model (WRF-Chem), but not adequately resolved in either of two coarse-resolution global models compared with aircraft observations of pollution lofting, suggesting a real need for high-resolution model studies of global pollution transport. Read More…
May 6th, 2010 - Export of Asian pollution to the western Pacific