ECAIM : Air Quality Studies and its Impact in Central Mexico.

Abstract:

Mexico City Metropolitan Area has been the object of several well know intensive campaigns. Since MARI (1991) , IMADA (1997), MCMA 2003 and MILAGRO (2006). The spatial scope of these studies have gone from urban to regional to continental, with the focus on MCMA as an emissions source. During MILAGRO, the influence on MCMA of wildfires and agricultural biomass burning around the megacity was considered.

However, around Mexico City a crown of metropolis and middle size cities make a region known as the Central Mexico Regional Crow (CRCM for its acronym in Spanish language) or Central Mexico City Belt. It contains 32 million inhabitants and produces 40% of national gross product. The region undergoes an uncontrolled urban sprawl.

Evidence is building-up on complex air pollution transport processes between the air basins within CRCM. However, only MCMA counts with reliable long-term records of criteria pollutants monitoring. Only few intensive campaigns have been done in the air basins surrounding MCMA.

ECAIM project has several goals: a) To use ground and satellite observations to assess emissions inventories; b) To use ground and satellite observations to assess the performance of air quality models for the whole region; c) to produce critical levels exceedence maps; d) To produce a preliminary diagnostic of air quality for the CRCM; e) to produce a preliminary estimate of the cost of air pollution within the CRCM.

In this work we show the method approach to use the best available information from local AQM networks, field campaigns, satellite observations and modeling to achieve those goals. We show some preliminary results.