Korea-United States Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) Campaign

The Korea-United States Air Quality (KORUS-AQ) campaign was an international cooperative field study based out of Osan Air Base, Songtan, South Korea (about 60 kilometers south of Seoul) in April-June 2016. A comprehensive suite of instruments capable of measuring atmospheric composition was deployed around the Korean peninsula on aircrafts, ships, and at ground sites in order to characterize local and transboundary pollution. The NASA Goddard Earth Observing System, version 5 (GEOS-5) forecast model was used for near real time meteorological and aerosol forecasting and flight planning during the KORUS-AQ campaign. Evaluation of GEOS-5 against observations from the campaign will help to identify inaccuracies in the models physical and chemical processes in this region within East Asia and lead to further developments of the modeling system

GEOS-5 During ORACLES: Status Update

In this talk we summarize the GEOS-5 capabilities to be deployed during the ORACLES 2016 Campaign. We describe model configuration, data products and web services available. We also discuss the measurement and flight requirements for the GEOS-5 Team

Costs of Parkinson's Disease and Antiparkinsonian Pharmacotherapy: An Italian Cohort Study

Objective: Antiparkinsonian pharmacotherapy is costly and the determinants of drug costs in Parkinson's disease (PD) have been poorly investigated. The objective of this study was to investigate the costs of PD and antiparkinsonian drugs in an Italian cohort of patients and identify cost-driving factors of drug therapy. Methods: Seventy outpatients with idiopathic PD were recruited in the Department of Neurology, Napoli University, Italy. Data on resource utilization were collected for 6 months using a bottom-up approach. Clinical status was evaluated using the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. Direct and indirect costs were calculated from the societal perspective (figures of year 2009). Independent determinants of total costs and costs of antiparkinsonian drugs were identified using multivariate regression analysis. Results: The total costs of PD were EUR 8,640 (95% CI: EUR 6,700-11,240) per patient over a 6-month period. Direct costs accounted for 70% of the total costs. Antiparkinsonian drugs (EUR 1,450; 95% CI: EUR 1,220-1,760) were the primary component of costs paid by the health insurance (39.6%) and one of the most expensive components of the direct costs (24.0%). The highest copayments made by patients were for antiparkinsonian drugs and medical equipment (58%). Independent determinants of the increased costs of antiparkinsonian pharmacotherapy were younger age and occurrence of motor fluctuations. Conclusions: Antiparkinsonian pharmacotherapy is one of the major cost components of PD-related costs for health insurance. It imposes a considerable economic burden on patients and their families as well. Copyright (C) 2010 S. Karger AG, Base

Air Quality and Health Impacts of Future Ethanol Production and Use in São Paulo State, Brazil.

It is often argued that liquid biofuels are cleaner than fossil fuels, and therefore better for human health, however, the evidence on this issue is still unclear. Brazil's high uptake of ethanol and role as a major producer makes it the most appropriate case study to assess the merits of different biofuel policies. Accordingly, we modeled the impact on air quality and health of two future fuel scenarios in São Paulo State: a business-as-usual scenario where ethanol production and use proceeds according to government predictions and a counterfactual scenario where ethanol is frozen at 2010 levels and future transport fuel demand is met with gasoline. The population-weighted exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone was 3.0 μg/m³ and 0.3 ppb lower, respectively, in 2020 in the scenario emphasizing gasoline compared with the business-as-usual (ethanol) scenario. The lower exposure to both pollutants in the gasoline scenario would result in the population living 1100 additional life-years in the first year, and if sustained, would increase to 40,000 life-years in year 20 and continue to rise. Without additional measures to limit emissions, increasing the use of ethanol in Brazil could lead to higher air pollution-related population health burdens when compared to policy that prioritizes gasoline

Impactos na saúde humana de partículas emitidas por queimadas na Amazônia brasileira

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the impact on human health of exposure to particulate matter emitted from burnings in the Brazilian Amazon region. METHODS: This was an ecological study using an environmental exposure indicator presented as the percentage of annual hours (AH%) of PM2.5 above 80 μg/m3. The outcome variables were the rates of hospitalization due to respiratory disease among children, the elderly and the intermediate age group, and due to childbirth. Data were obtained from the National Space Research Institute and the Ministry of Health for all of the microregions of the Brazilian Amazon region, for the years 2004 and 2005. Multiple regression models for the outcome variables in relation to the predictive variable AH% of PM2.5 above 80 μg/m3 were analyzed. The Human Development Index (HDI) and mean number of complete blood counts per 100 inhabitants in the Brazilian Amazon region were the control variables in the regression analyses. RESULTS: The association of the exposure indicator (AH%) was higher for the elderly than for other age groups (β = 0.10). For each 1% increase in the exposure indicator there was an increase of 8% in child hospitalization, 10% in hospitalization of the elderly, and 5% for the intermediate age group, even after controlling for HDI and mean number of complete blood counts. No association was found between the AH% and hospitalization due to childbirth. CONCLUSIONS: The indicator of atmospheric pollution showed an association with occurrences of respiratory diseases in the Brazilian Amazon region, especially in the more vulnerable age groups. This indicator may be used to assess the effects of forest burning on human health.OBJETIVO: Analisar o impacto à saúde humana pela exposição ao material particulado das emissões de queimadas na Amazônia brasileira. MÉTODOS: Estudo ecológico utilizando o indicador de exposição ambiental apresentado como percentagem anual de horas (AH%) de PM2,5 acima de 80 μg/m³ e como desfecho taxas de hospitalização por doenças respiratórias em crianças, idosos e grupos etários intermediários e taxas de hospitalização por parto. Os dados foram obtidos do Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais e do Ministério da Saúde para todas as microrregiões da Amazônia Brasileira, nos anos 2004 e 2005. Foram analisados modelos de regressão múltipla das variáveis de desfecho com a variável preditora AH% acima de 80 μg/m³ para PM2,5. O Índice de Desenvolvimento Humano (IDH) e o número médio de hemogramas por 100 habitantes na região da Amazônia brasileira foram variáveis de controle nas análises de regressão. RESULTADOS: Observou-se maior associação do indicador de exposição (AH%) para os idosos do que para outros grupos etários (β = 0,10). Para cada ponto percentual de aumento no indicador de exposição, houve aumento de 10% na taxa de hospitalização de idosos, 8% em internações de crianças, e 5% para a faixa etária intermediária, mesmo ajustando por IDH e número médio de hemogramas. Não foi encontrada associação entre AH% e a taxa de hospitalização por parto. CONCLUSÕES: O indicador de poluição atmosférica mostrou associação com a ocorrência de doenças respiratórias, em especial nos grupos etários mais vulneráveis da Amazônia brasileira, podendo ser utilizado na abordagem dos efeitos da queima das florestas na saúde humana.OBJETIVO: Analizar el impacto a la salud humana por la exposición al material particulado de las emisiones de incendios en el Amazonas brasilero. MÉTODOS: Estudio ecológico utilizando el indicador de exposición ambiental, presentado como porcentaje anual de horas (AH%) de PM2,5 encima de 80 µg/m³ y como resultado tasas de hospitalización por enfermedades respiratorias en niños, ancianos y grupos etarios intermediarios y tasas de hospitalización por parto. Los datos fueron obtenidos del Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciales y del Ministerio de la Salud de Brasil para todas las microrregiones del Amazonas Brasilero, en los años 2004 y 2005. Fueron analizados modelos de regresión múltiple de las variables de resultado con la variable predoctora AH% encima de 80 µg/m³ para PM2,5. El Índice de Desarrollo Humano (IDH) y el número promedio de hemogramas por 100 habitantes en la región del Amazonas Brasilero fueron variables de control en los análisis de regresión. RESULTADOS: Se observó mayor asociación del indicador de exposición (AH%) para los ancianos en comparación con otros grupos etarios (? = 0,10). Para cada punto porcentual de aumento en el indicador de exposición, hubo aumento de 10% en la tasa de hospitalización de ancianos, 8% en internaciones de niños, y 5% para el grupo etario intermedio, aún ajustando por IDH y número promedio de hemogramas. No fue encontrada asociación entre AH% y la tasa de hospitalización por parto. CONCLUSIONES: El indicador de polución atmosférica mostró asociación con la ocurrencia de enfermedades respiratorias, en especial en los grupos etarios más vulnerables del Amazona Brasilero, pudiendo ser utilizado en el abordaje de los efectos de incendios de las selvas en la salud humana.Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Mato Grosso (FAPEMS)/Departamento de Ciência e Tecnologia do Ministério da Saúde - DECI

Implementación del monitoreo de contaminantes emitidos a la atmósfera por Cuba

Ponencia presentada en: XXX Jornadas Científicas de la AME y el IX Encuentro Hispano Luso de Meteorología celebrado en Zaragoza, del 5 al 7 de mayo de 2008

Biomass burning emission disturbances of isoprene oxidation in a tropical forest

We present a characterization of the chemical composition of the atmosphere of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest based on trace gas measurements carried out during the South AMerican Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) airborne experiment in September 2012. We analyzed the observations of primary biomass burning emission tracers, i.e., carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NOx), ozone (O3), isoprene, and its main oxidation products, methyl vinyl ketone (MVK), methacrolein (MACR), and isoprene hydroxy hydroperoxide (ISOPOOH). The focus of SAMBBA was primarily on biomass burning emissions, but there were also several flights in areas of the Amazon forest not directly affected by biomass burning, revealing a background with a signature of biomass burning in the chemical composition due to long-range transport of biomass burning tracers from both Africa and the eastern part of Amazonia. We used the [MVK+MACR+ISOPOOH]∕[isoprene] ratio and the hydroxyl radical (OH) indirect calculation to assess the oxidative capacity of the Amazon forest atmosphere. We compared the background regions (CO<150ppbv), fresh and aged smoke plumes classified according to their photochemical age ([O3]∕[CO]), to evaluate the impact of biomass burning emissions on the oxidative capacity of the Amazon forest atmosphere. We observed that biomass burning emissions disturb the isoprene oxidation reactions, especially for fresh plumes ([MVK+MACR+ISOPOOH]∕[isoprene] = 7) downwind. The oxidation of isoprene is higher in fresh smoke plumes at lower altitudes (∼500m) than in aged smoke plumes, anticipating near the surface a complex chain of oxidation reactions which may be related to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. We proposed a refinement of the OH calculation based on the sequential reaction model, which considers vertical and horizontal transport for both biomass burning regimes and background environment. Our approach for the [OH] estimation resulted in values on the same order of magnitude of a recent observation in the Amazon rainforest [OH]≅106 (moleculescm−3). During the fresh plume regime, the vertical profile of [OH] and the [MVK+MACR+ISOPOOH]∕[isoprene] ratio showed evidence of an increase in the oxidizing power in the transition from planetary boundary layer to cloud layer (1000–1500m). These high values of [OH] (1.5×106moleculescm−3) and [MVK+MACR+ISOPOOH]∕[isoprene] (7.5) indicate a significant change above and inside the cloud decks due to cloud edge effects on photolysis rates, which have a major impact on OH production rates

Ground-based aerosol characterization during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment

This paper investigates the physical and chemical characteristics of aerosols at ground level at a site heavily impacted by biomass burning. the site is located near Porto Velho, Rondonia, in the southwestern part of the Brazilian Amazon rainforest, and was selected for the deployment of a large suite of instruments, among them an Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor. Our measurements were made during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) field experiment, which consisted of a combination of aircraft and ground-based measurements over Brazil, aimed to investigate the impacts of biomass burning emissions on climate, air quality, and numerical weather prediction over South America. the campaign took place during the dry season and the transition to the wet season in September/October 2012.During most of the campaign, the site was impacted by regional biomass burning pollution (average CO mixing ratio of 0.6 ppm), occasionally superimposed by intense (up to 2 ppm of CO), freshly emitted biomass burning plumes. Aerosol number concentrations ranged from similar to 1000 cm(-3) to peaks of up to 35 000 cm(-3) (during biomass burning (BB) events, corresponding to an average submicron mass mean concentrations of 13.7 mu g m(-3) and peak concentrations close to 100 mu g m-3. Organic aerosol strongly dominated the submicron non-refractory composition, with an average concen-tration of 11.4 mu g m(-3). the inorganic species, NH4, SO4, NO3, and Cl, were observed, on average, at concentrations of 0.44, 0.34, 0.19, and 0.01 mu g m(-3), respectively. Equivalent black carbon (BCe) ranged from 0.2 to 5.5 mu g m(-3), with an average concentration of 1.3 mu g m(-3). During BB peaks, organics accounted for over 90% of total mass (submicron non-refractory plus BCe), among the highest values described in the literature.We examined the ageing of biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) using the changes in the H : C and O : C ratios, and found that throughout most of the aerosol processing (O : C congruent to D 0 : 25 to O : C congruent to D 0 : 6), no remarkable change is observed in the H : C ratio (similar to 1 : 35). Such a result contrasts strongly with previous observations of chemical ageing of both urban and Amazonian biogenic aerosols. At higher levels of processing (O : C > 0 : 6), the H : C ratio changes with a H : C / O : C slope of -0.5, possibly due to the development of a combination of BB (H : C / O : C slope D 0) and biogenic (H : C / O : C slope D 1) organic aerosol (OA). An analysis of the Delta OA / Delta CO mass ratios yields very little enhancement in the OA loading with atmospheric processing, consistent with previous observations. These results indicate that negligible secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation occurs throughout the observed BB plume processing, or that SOA formation is almost entirely balanced by OA volatilization.Positive matrix factorization (PMF) of the organic aerosol spectra resulted in three factors: fresh BBOA, aged BBOA, and low-volatility oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA). Analysis of the diurnal patterns and correlation with external markers indicates that during the first part of the campaign, OA concentrations are impacted by local fire plumes with some chemical processing occurring in the near-surface layer. During the second part of the campaign, long-range transport of BB plumes above the surface layer, as well as potential SOAs formed aloft, dominates OA concentrations at our ground-based sampling site.This manuscript describes the first ground-based deployment of the aerosol mass spectrometry at a site heavily impacted by biomass burning in the Amazon region, allowing a deeper understanding of aerosol life cycle in this important ecosystem.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)INCT AmazoniaNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)Univ São Paulo, Inst Phys, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Earth & Exact Sci, Diadema, BrazilUniv Manchester, Sch Earth Atmospher & Environm Sci, Ctr Atmospher Sci, Manchester, Lancs, EnglandUK Met Off, Exeter, Devon, EnglandUniv Exeter, Coll Engn Maths & Phys Sci, Exeter, Devon, EnglandNatl Inst Space Res INPE, Sao Jose Dos Campos, BrazilMax Planck Inst Chem, Biogeochem Dept, D-55128 Mainz, GermanyUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Earth & Exact Sci, Diadema, BrazilFAPESP: 2012/14437-9FAPESP: 2013/05014-0CNPq: 475735-2012-9Natural Environment Research Council (NERC): NE/J010073/1Web of Scienc

Desempenho do Modelo CATT-BRAMS em simulações de transporte de poluentes emitidos por incêndios florestais

Ponencia presentada en: XXX Jornadas Científicas de la AME y el IX Encuentro Hispano Luso de Meteorología celebrado en Zaragoza, del 5 al 7 de mayo de 2008.[PT]O objectivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o comportamento do modelo CATT-BRAMS para o transporte atmosférico do monóxido de carbono (CO) e material particulado (PM2.5) emitidos por queimadas diante de uma situação considerada normal (2002) em relação aos incêndios que ocorreram em 2003, considerada uma das mais intensas temporadas de incêndio durante as últimas décadas. As condições iniciais e de contorno foram feitas utilizando as análises do modelo global AVN/NCEP (Aviation run of the National Centers for Environmental Prediction Global Spectral Model) e com a assimilação dos dados de fogos derivados a partir dos productos MODIS/AQUA para a Europa, com o objectivo de identificar as posições das emissões.[EN]The objective of this work was to evaluate the behaviour of the CATT-BRAMS model for the atmospheric transport of the carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM2.5) emitted by burning due to a situation considered normal (2002) in relation to the fires that happened in 2003, considered one of the most intense fire seasons during the last decade.. The initial and lateral boundary conditions were provided by the analyses of the global model AVN/NCEP (Aviation run of the National Centers Environmental Global Prediction Spectral Model) and the assimilation of fire data derived from the products MODIS/AQUA to Europe, with the objective of identifying the emissions location