Ecoprocesses. A need and a requirement

Cleaner production is a means of applying in a continuous manner a preventive and integrated environmental strategy aimed at processes and product

Characterization of coal power plants plume dynamics under typical synoptic conditions over the Iberian Peninsula

This work describes the pollution plumes of seven Spanish coal power plants under the most typical meteorological conditions that affect the Iberian Peninsula at synoptic scale. The aim is to understand how meteorology modulates the plume dynamics (length, altitude, orientation) and their contribution to NO2 and SO2 surface concentration. Using the BSC-ES operational air quality forecasting system (CALIOPE-AQFS), the behavior of the plumes is analyzed for a representative day of each of the six most common synoptic situations. The results show that the plumes from Atlantic facilities are mainly driven by synoptic conditions whereas for power plants located over the Mediterranean and on mountainous regions, mesoscale dynamics dominate. Moreover, when the injection of the pollutants is done within the planetary boundary layer there is an increase in the NO2 and SO2 surface concentrations close to (<15-20 km) the sources

Effect of terrain relief on dust transport over complex terrains in West Asia

This work investigates the impact of orography on dust transport using the multi-scale NMMB/BSC-Dust model. For this purpose, two model simulations at horizontal resolutions of 0.03º x 0.03º (Low-resolution; LR) and 0.3º x 0.3º (High-resolution; HR) are performed and analysed covering two intense dust storms that occurred in West Asia in March 2012. Differences between both simulations emerge when the dust storms reach the south and west Arabian Peninsula where its complex topography affected meteorology and dust fields in many ways. The HR simulation is better than the LR simulation at reproducing the topography and its topographic effects on meteorology, such as developing orographic clouds, wind speed bias reduction under the dust flows (larger than 5 m/s) and more accurate wind directions, as well as on dust fields, such as a more realistic representation of dust channeling/blocking. Consequently, it improves dust forecasts in the vicinity of complex terrains

Evaluation of modelling systems in high resolution to assess the air pollutant impacts on human health

Nowadays the modelling of systems in high resolution is being used for air quality and other forecasting applications, where a spatial area is related with different interrelated variables that could be displayed on a map. This area is usually represented by global domains (hundred to thousand of square km); when smaller regions need to be represented, a high resolution modelling system can be used, these systems goes from one square km to dozen of square km, health is one of these issues where this kind of resolution can be used. In Europe, Asia, North America, South America and other countries, health problems related with the air pollution and climate change is a concern for individuals and world organizations like the WHO; today studies show the relation between morbidity and mortality rates, air pollution and effects on human health; these modelling systems in high resolution help us to simulate scenarios and propose solutions to this problematic. So the objective of this work is to evaluate the system performance WRF – CMAQ and CALIOPE on high resolution (4 km x 4 km) to determine air pollutant impacts of PM10, PM2.5, Ozone, NO2 and SO2 on population, using BenMAP for assess impact on health. The methodology suggested is the time series analysis of two years of hospital admissions, morbidity and mortality rates and the air quality forecasting of the cities selected, previously modelled in WRF, CMAQ and CALIOPE; after that, the Response Functions (DRF/ERF) to determine the impacts on health and the BenMAP software will be used. It is expecting find the scenarios that could decrease the mortality and morbidity rates in diseases like lung cancer, chronic respiratory obstructive disease, asthma, and the acute respiratory diseases in adults and children under ten years old

The ‘WMO Sand and Dust Warning Advisory and Assessment System’ Program

Comunicación presentada en: V Reunión Española de Ciencia y Tecnología de Aerosoles – RECTA 2011 celebrada del 27 al 29 de junio de 2011 en CIEMAT, Madrid.Large amounts of sand and dust are continually lifted from bare, dry soils and transported through the atmosphere affecting regions hundreds to thousands of kilometers away. For countries in and downwind of arid regions, airborne sand and dust present serious risks to the environment, human health and economy. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has taken the lead with international partners to develop and implement a Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System (SDS-WAS). The program is organized around a Regional Center for Asia and a Regional Centre for Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe. The Regional Centre for Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe, set in Barcelona, is hosted by the Barcelona Supercomputing Center-Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSCCNS) and the Meteorological State Agency from Spain (AEMET). Its first objective is to lead the development and implementation of a comprehensive system for mineral dust observation and forecast in the region, with special emphasis on extreme sand and dust events. The second objective of the Regional Centre is to facilitate user access to information. It manages a web-based portal for user access to value-added observational and forecast products as well as sources of basic information: in particular, the portal provides the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services with the necessary input to issue dust-related early warnings. The third objective is to build capacity of countries to use observations, analysis and forecasts provided by the WMO SDS-WAS programme

Regional Center for Northern Africa, Middle East and Europe of the WMO Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment Sytem: activity report 2010-2012

This report presents the Center’s activities in the 2010-2012 period. It reports on its efforts to build capacity in the region and to develop user services to reduction of adverse impacts of dust in countries heavily impacted by dust storms. There remain important SDS-WAS research issues to be considered and it is hoped that the Center will continue to play a coordinating role in addressing these. These research topics include the assimilation of observations in numerical dust prediction models; role of dust chemical/mineral composition on health and environment; direct and indirect interactions of dust and the atmosphere; introduction of new generation of measurements (e.g. ceilometers) to better monitor dust process