A21H-0247
Spatiotemporal comparison of highly-resolved emissions and concentrations of carbon dioxide and criteria pollutants in Salt Lake City, Utah for health and policy applications

Tuesday, 15 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Daniel L Mendoza1, John C Lin1, Logan Mitchell2, Kevin R Gurney3, Risa Patarasuk3, Ben Fasoli2, Ryan Bares4, Darragh O’Keeffe3, Terry Song3, Jianhua Huang3, John Horel1, Erik Crosman1 and James R Ehleringer5, (1)University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (2)University of Utah, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (3)Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, United States, (4)University of Utah, Atmospheric Sciences, Salt Lake City, UT, United States, (5)Univ Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States
Abstract:
This study addresses the need for robust highly-resolved emissions and concentration data required for planning purposes and policy development aimed at managing pollutant sources. Adverse health effects resulting from urban pollution exposure are dependent on proximity to emission sources and atmospheric mixing, necessitating models with high spatial and temporal resolution. As urban emission sources co-emit carbon dioxide (CO2) and criteria pollutants (CAPs), efforts to reduce specific pollutants would synergistically reduce others.

We present emissions inventories and modeled concentrations for CO2 and CAPs: carbon monoxide (CO), lead (Pb), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10), and sulfur oxides (SOx) for Salt Lake County, Utah. We compare the resulting concentrations against stationary and mobile measurement data and present a systematic quantification of uncertainties.

The emissions inventory for CO2 is based on the Hestia emissions data inventory that resolves emissions at an hourly, building and road link resolution as well as hourly gridded emissions with a 0.002o x 0.002o spatial resolution. Two methods for deriving criteria pollutant emission inventories were compared. One was constructed using methods similar to Hestia but downscales total emissions based on the 2011 National Emissions Inventory (NEI). The other used Emission Modeling Clearinghouse spatial and temporal surrogates to downscale the NEI data from annual and county-level resolution to hourly and 0.002o x 0.002o grid cells. The gridded emissions from both criteria pollutant methods were compared against the Hestia CO2 gridded data to characterize spatial similarities and differences between them. Correlations were calculated at multiple scales of aggregation.

The CALPUFF dispersion model was used to transport emissions and estimate air pollutant concentrations at an hourly 0.002o x 0.002o resolution. The resulting concentrations were spatially compared in the same manner as the emissions. Modeled results were compared against stationary measurements and from equipment mounted atop a light rail car in the Salt Lake City area. The comparison between both approaches to emissions estimation and resulting concentrations highlights spatial locations and hours of high variability and uncertainty.