| Abstrakt: |
AbstractUrban air pollution in Pakistan is a serious challenge and it causes significant damage to human health and ecosystems. This paper presents a modelling study using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) to simulate the spatial distributions and temporal variations of aerosol concentrations over Pakistan, focusing on contributions of domestic emission sectors (transport, industry, residential, and energy) to mass concentrations of sulfate (SO42-), nitrate (NO3−), ammonium (NH4+), black carbon (BC), and organic carbon (OC) during the months of January, April, July, and October in 2010. Sensitivity studies indicate that, averaged over January, April, July, and October of 2010, energy and industry sectors have the largest contributions to SO42-concentrations, each of which contributes about 10%–20% to SO42-over the polluted eastern Pakistan. The contributions from residential and transport sectors to NO3−concentrations reach 40%–50% in central Pakistan. The residential sector has the highest contribution of 50%–80% to BC and OC loading in northeastern and southern Pakistan. Examination of sector contributions to aerosol levels in Lahore, the most polluted city in Pakistan, suggests that reductions in emissions in the residential sector should be an efficient measure for improving particulate matter air quality in this region. |
