Air-Quality-Model

The purpose of this project is to develop a state-of-the-art regional air quality model through the integration of the next generation climate model and a highly explicit representation of atmospheric chemistry on various platforms at the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre. The final product will have many applications. One of the most important applications is to assess impacts of changing air pollution levels on human health under various scenarios, i.e. population growth, suburban sprawl, infrastructure and climate change.
Person

Principal investigator

Sean Lam sean.lam@dwer.wa.gov.au
Magnifying glass

Area of science

Climate
CPU

Systems used

Nimbus
Computer

Applications used

WRF and MPAS-A
Partner Institution: Department of Water and Environmental Regulation | Project Code: A000255

The Challenge

Critical to the development of this model will be the meteorological data, detailed emission data and chemical mechanism scheme. The Western Australian Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (DWER) has conducted numerous physics sensitivity analyses using the Weather Research Forecast (WRF) model in the priority airsheds in Western Australia. The recent update of the Perth metropolitan emissions inventory offers a great opportunity to incorporate a state-of-the-art meteorological model with detailed emissions in the metropolitan area and other priority airsheds.

This project involves testing of a number of climate models as well as chemical transport models to identify a suitable candidate to commit the next generation regional photochemical transport model development. These include but not limit to MPAS-A, WRF-Chem, WRF-CMAQ and CCAM-CTM. Data analysis of modelled results and visualisation are important for the selection process.
One of the major challenge is to test the whether all these models are compatible and whether the modelled data are comparable to the monitoring data.

The Solution

Stage 1 (Year 1, 2021/2022): Start up and initiation
1. Compilation of verified representative meteorological data for the Perth airshed.
2. Updated model-ready emissions inventory for Perth including emissions from commercial and industrial sectors, biogenic and geogenic sources, on-road vehicles, domestic sources and off-road mobile sources.
3. Working collaboratively with CSIRO and the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (NSW DPIE), set up a base case of CCAM-CTM and WRF-Chem for the Perth airshed.
4. Set up AQFx using Pawsey Supercomputing Centre WA resources.
5. Development of a method to use satellite data for the identification of prescribed burn or bushfire hotspots. This task is an extension of an existing Murdoch University Honours project that is being sponsored by the department. The satellite data will be verified against monitoring data and will assist in improving model prediction in the CCAM-CTM smoke and prescribed burn module within AQFx.
6. Obtain training from external experts for the Murujuga WRF-CAMx setup and develop configurations for routine use.
Stage 2 (Year 2, 2022/2023): Development and optimisation
1. Further development and optimisation of airshed models in Perth and/or priority airsheds including sensitivity analyses and future scenario development. Optimisation may include use of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques.
2. Optimise AQFx, including verification of modelled data using monitoring data and revision of emission data where required. At this time AQFx will be entering into the pre-operational phase for the national roll out.
Stage 3 (Year 3, 2023/2024): Implementation
1. Final verification and validation of the suite of airshed models.
2. Operational use of regional airshed models in priority airsheds.
3. Communication of model output data with internal and external stakeholders through various means, including air quality dashboards and other data visualisation tools.
4. Expansion of the model domain to include other key regions such as Mandurah, Bunbury and Collie.

 

The Outcome

Pawsey Centre provides Nimbus cloud as a testing bed for all these models. It allows short term sensitivity analysis.
The tasks listed in Stage 1 (start up and initiation) of the project plan have approached completion in the past nine months. These tasks include:
•Compilation of verified representative meteorological data for the Perth airshed.
•Updated a model-ready emissions inventory for Perth including emissions from commercial and industrial sectors, biogenic and geogenic sources, on-road vehicles, domestic sources and off-road mobile sources.
•Working collaboratively with CSIRO and the New South Wales Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (NSW DPIE), set up a base case of CCAM-CTM and WRF-Chem for the Perth airshed.
•Set up AQFx using Pawsey Supercomputing Centre WA resources.
•Development of a method to use satellite data for the identification of prescribed burns or bushfire hotspots. This task is an extension of an existing Murdoch University Honours project that is being sponsored by DWER and UWA. The satellite data will be verified against monitoring data and will assist in improving model prediction in the CCAM-CTM smoke and prescribed burn module within AQFx.

List of Publications

1. Development of a regional airshed chemical transport model for priority airsheds in Western Australia, 16th International Global Atmospheric Chemistry 2020 Conference, Poster, September 2021
2. Development of a next generation regional chemical transport model in Western Australia, Australian Meteorological and Oceanographic Society (AMOS) 2020 international conference, Poster, February 2020.
3. Development of a regional airshed model for priority airsheds in Western Australia, The Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand (CASANZ) 2019 international conference, Conference paper, September 2019.
4. Development of a next generation regional chemical transport model in Western Australia, The Platform for Advanced Scientific Computing (PASC) Conference, Poster, March 2019