Innovative Measurement and Modeling Approaches for Effective Air Quality Management

Dear Colleagues,

Air pollution remains a pressing global challenge, exacerbated by accelerating urbanization, rising energy demand, and climatic stressors. In many developing regions, managing air quality is especially difficult as it is hampered by sparse monitoring networks, evolving emissions portfolios, limited regulatory capacity, and the increased incidence of wildfire smoke intrusion. The recent recognition of atmospheric “forever chemicals” such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), with their persistence, long-range transport potential, and only partially understood atmospheric chemistry and exposure pathways, underscores the urgency of establishing improved observational, analytical, and modeling frameworks.

This Special Issue of Atmosphere seeks to gather together forward-looking research that advances our capabilities in air quality observation, attribution, forecasting, and policy design, particularly under the evolving pressures of climate change, emerging pollutants, and energy transitions. We welcome contributions that not only deepen fundamental understanding but also bridge gaps toward actionable strategies for air quality management.

Topics of Interest

We invite manuscripts on research areas including, but not limited to, the below topics.

• Regulatory applications and control strategy design:
  Modeling or observational tools that inform emissions mitigation, compliance assessment, policy trade-offs, multi-pollutant co-benefits, or scenario evaluation.
• Regional/field investigations and case studies:
  Empirical observations, source apportionment studies, trend analyses, or intensive campaigns in either underrepresented or high-impact regions.
• Advanced statistical, machine learning, or hybrid methods:
  Physics-guided ML, deep learning, surrogate modeling, explainable AI, data fusion/assimilation across scales, and uncertainty quantification.
• High-resolution dispersion, chemical transport, and coupled modeling:
  Sub-km or nested modeling; coupled atmosphere–biosphere–aerosol feedback; and scenario simulations under changing climate and emissions.
• Emerging pollutants and air toxics:
  Measurement, modeling, transformation, partitioning, transport, and deposition of PFASs (gas, aerosol, and volatile PFASs), radionuclides, and other novel atmospheric species.
• Air quality implications of energy systems:
  Measurement and modeling of primary pollutants and secondary byproduct formation, heterogenous chemistry, and co-pollutants associated with emissions from conventional and alternate energy sources and systems.

Dr. Saikat Ghosh
Dr. Saritha Karnae
Prof. Dr. Kuruvilla John
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• air quality monitoring
• source apportionment
• atmospheric modeling
• regulatory compliance
• wildfire emissions
• ai/machine learning
• emerging air pollutants
• alternate energy systems