Urban Air Quality in a Coastal City: Wollongong during the MUMBA Campaign

We present findings from the Measurements of Urban, Marine and Biogenic Air (MUMBA) campaign, which took place in the coastal city of Wollongong in New South Wales, Australia. We focus on a few key air quality indicators, along with a comparison to regional scale chemical transport model predictions at a spatial resolution of 1 km by 1 km. We find that the CSIRO chemical transport model provides accurate simulations of ozone concentrations at most times, but underestimates the ozone enhancements that occur during extreme temperature events. The model also meets previously published performance standards for fine particulate matter less than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM_2.5), and the larger aerosol fraction (PM₁₀). We explore the observed composition of the atmosphere within this urban air-shed during the MUMBA campaign and discuss the different influences on air quality in the city. Our findings suggest that further improvements to our ability to simulate air quality in this coastal city can be made through more accurate anthropogenic and biogenic emissions inventories and better understanding of the impact of extreme temperatures on air quality. The challenges in modelling air quality within the urban air-shed of Wollongong, including difficulties in accurate simulation of the local meteorology, are likely to be replicated in many other coastal cities in the Southern Hemisphere. View Full-Text

Keywords: air quality; traffic pollution; industrial emissions; modelling

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MDPI and ACS Style

Paton-Walsh, C.; Guérette, É.-A.; Emmerson, K.; Cope, M.; Kubistin, D.; Humphries, R.; Wilson, S.; Buchholz, R.; Jones, N.B.; Griffith, D.W.T.; Dominick, D.; Galbally, I.; Keywood, M.; Lawson, S.; Harnwell, J.; Ward, J.; Griffiths, A.; Chambers, S. Urban Air Quality in a Coastal City: Wollongong during the MUMBA Campaign. Atmosphere 2018, 9, 500. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9120500

AMA Style

Paton-Walsh C, Guérette É-A, Emmerson K, Cope M, Kubistin D, Humphries R, Wilson S, Buchholz R, Jones NB, Griffith DWT, Dominick D, Galbally I, Keywood M, Lawson S, Harnwell J, Ward J, Griffiths A, Chambers S. Urban Air Quality in a Coastal City: Wollongong during the MUMBA Campaign. Atmosphere. 2018; 9(12):500. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9120500

Chicago/Turabian Style

Paton-Walsh, Clare, Élise-Andrée Guérette, Kathryn Emmerson, Martin Cope, Dagmar Kubistin, Ruhi Humphries, Stephen Wilson, Rebecca Buchholz, Nicholas B. Jones, David W.T. Griffith, Doreena Dominick, Ian Galbally, Melita Keywood, Sarah Lawson, James Harnwell, Jason Ward, Alan Griffiths, and Scott Chambers. 2018. "Urban Air Quality in a Coastal City: Wollongong during the MUMBA Campaign" Atmosphere 9, no. 12: 500. https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos9120500

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Urban Air Quality in a Coastal City: Wollongong during the MUMBA Campaign

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