Development and Application of an Urban Tree Air Quality Score for Photochemical Pollution Episodes Using the Birmingham, United Kingdom, Area as a Case Study

Donovan, R.; Stewart, H.; Owen, Susan M.; MacKenzie, A. R.; Hewitt, C. Nicholas

doi:10.1021/es050581y

Cited by 93 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…To understand current and future ozone levels over these 2 landscapes, we have used the CiTTyCAT box model of atmospheric photochemistry (10)(11)(12). These computations explore the sensitivity of atmospheric composition in the boundary layer to VOC and NO x emission rates for the calm, nonprecipitating, atmosphere, consistent with conditions during the measurement period.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen management is essential to prevent tropical oil palm plantations from causing ground-level ozone pollution

Hewitt

MacKenzie

Carlo

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

169

160

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More than half the world's rainforest has been lost to agriculture since the Industrial Revolution. Among the most widespread tropical crops is oil palm (Elaeis guineensis): global production now exceeds 35 million tonnes per year. In Malaysia, for example, 13% of land area is now oil palm plantation, compared with 1% in 1974. There are enormous pressures to increase palm oil production for food, domestic products, and, especially, biofuels. Greater use of palm oil for biofuel production is predicated on the assumption that palm oil is an ''environmentally friendly'' fuel feedstock. Here we show, using measurements and models, that oil palm plantations in Malaysia directly emit more oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds than rainforest. These compounds lead to the production of ground-level ozone (O 3), an air pollutant that damages human health, plants, and materials, reduces crop productivity, and has effects on the Earth's climate. Our measurements show that, at present, O 3 concentrations do not differ significantly over rainforest and adjacent oil palm plantation landscapes. However, our model calculations predict that if concentrations of oxides of nitrogen in Borneo are allowed to reach those currently seen over rural North America and Europe, ground-level O 3 concentrations will reach 100 parts per billion (10 9 ) volume (ppbv) and exceed levels known to be harmful to human health. Our study provides an early warning of the urgent need to develop policies that manage nitrogen emissions if the detrimental effects of palm oil production on air quality and climate are to be avoided. air quality ͉ land use change ͉ sustainable development ͉ biofuel G round-level ozone (O 3 ) is a priority air pollutant that damages human health, plants, and materials, reduces crop productivity, and has direct and indirect effects on the Earth's climate system (1). It is formed in the atmosphere by reactions involving oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the presence of sunlight. The terrestrial biosphere is a major source of both these families of trace gases; in fact, the great majority of reactive VOCs globally are of biogenic origin (2). Here we show, using integrated and fully comprehensive measurements of biosphere-to-atmosphere trace gas fluxes and atmospheric composition, together with atmospheric chemistry modeling, that conversion of tropical rainforest to oil palm plantations results in much greater emissions of these reactive trace gases that lead to O 3 formation. Increased NO x emissions will cause severe ground-level O 3 pollution (Ͼ 100 ppbv), but this pollution could be prevented by strict control of emissions of reactive nitrogen species to the atmosphere. Our study shows the importance of quantifying the current and future effects of land use change on air quality when assessing the ''environmental friendliness'' of palm oil and other biofuel crops. Of course, air quality is only a single consideration; in assessing the consequences of biofuel production, effects o...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nitrogen management is essential to prevent tropical oil palm plantations from causing ground-level ozone pollution

Hewitt

MacKenzie

Carlo

et al. 2009

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

169

160

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…For completness of carbon accounting, we ran the CiTTyCAT box model of atmospheric chemistry Evans et al, 2000;Donovan et al, 2005;Hewitt et al, 2009;Pugh et al, 2010), including detailed isoprene chemistry (Taraborrelli et al, 2009), in the boundary layer above the flux footprint, to trace the fate of carbon emitted as VOCs. The model also includes detailed monoterpene chemistry (Jenkin, 1996;Stockwell et al, 1997), however the lumping of species within these schemes leads to a carbon loss of around 10% in the model.…”

Section: Net Ecosystem Exchange Of Carbonmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fluxes and concentrations of volatile organic compounds from a South-East Asian tropical rainforest

et al. 2010

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Abstract. As part of the OP3 field study of rainforest atmospheric chemistry, above-canopy fluxes of isoprene, monoterpenes and oxygenated volatile organic compounds were made by virtual disjunct eddy covariance from a SouthEast Asian tropical rainforest in Malaysia. Approximately 500 hours of flux data were collected over 48 days in AprilMay and June-July 2008. Isoprene was the dominant nonmethane hydrocarbon emitted from the forest, accounting for 80% (as carbon) of the measured emission of reactive carbon fluxes. Total monoterpene emissions accounted for 18% of the measured reactive carbon flux. There was no evidence for nocturnal monoterpene emissions and during the day their flux rate was dependent on both light and temperature. The oxygenated compounds, including methanol, acetone and acetaldehyde, contributed less than 2% of the total measured reactive carbon flux. The sum of the VOC fluxes measured represents a 0.4% loss of daytime assimilated carbon by the canopy, but atmospheric chemistry box modelling suggests that most (90%) of this reactive carbon is returned back to the canopy by wet and dry deposition following chemical transformation. The emission rates of isoprene and monoterpenes, normalised to 30 • C and 1000 µmol m −2 s −1 PAR, were 1.6 mg m −2 h −1 and 0.46 mg m −2 h −1 respectively, which was 4 and 1.8 times lower respectively than the default value for tropical forests in the widely-used MEGAN Correspondence to: B. Langford (b.langford1@lancaster.ac.uk) model of biogenic VOC emissions. This highlights the need for more direct canopy-scale flux measurements of VOCs from the world's tropical forests.

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“…Thus, the CiTTyCAT model Evans et al, 2000;Emmerson et al, 2004;Donovan et al, 2005) has been used to study the chemical regimes probed by the OP3 measurements, both over the rainforest and over palm oil plantations, and to explore how local air quality could be affected should palm oil (a major isoprene-emitter) become an even more dominant crop, replacing the rainforest. Hewitt et al (2009) show that under these circumstances, what happens to local and regional-scale emissions of NO x will be crucial.…”

Section: Modelling and Assessmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview: oxidant and particle photochemical processes above a south-east Asian tropical rainforest (the OP3 project): introduction, rationale, location characteristics and tools

et al. 2010

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Abstract. In April-July 2008, intensive measurements were made of atmospheric composition and chemistry in Sabah, Malaysia, as part of the "Oxidant and particle photochemical processes above a South-East Asian tropical rainforCorrespondence to: C. N. Hewitt (n.hewitt@lancaster.ac.uk) est" (OP3) project. Fluxes and concentrations of trace gases and particles were made from and above the rainforest canopy at the Bukit Atur Global Atmosphere Watch station and at the nearby Sabahmas oil palm plantation, using both ground-based and airborne measurements. Here, the measurement and modelling strategies used, the characteristics of the sites and an overview of data obtained are described. Composition measurements show that the rainforest Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. 170 C. N. Hewitt et al.: The OP3 project: introduction, rationale, location characteristics and tools site was not significantly impacted by anthropogenic pollution, and this is confirmed by satellite retrievals of NO 2 and HCHO. The dominant modulators of atmospheric chemistry at the rainforest site were therefore emissions of BVOCs and soil emissions of reactive nitrogen oxides. At the observed BVOC:NO x volume mixing ratio (∼100 pptv/pptv), current chemical models suggest that daytime maximum OH concentrations should be ca. 10 5 radicals cm −3 , but observed OH concentrations were an order of magnitude greater than this. We confirm, therefore, previous measurements that suggest that an unexplained source of OH must exist above tropical rainforest and we continue to interrogate the data to find explanations for this.

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Development and Application of an Urban Tree Air Quality Score for Photochemical Pollution Episodes Using the Birmingham, United Kingdom, Area as a Case Study

Cited by 93 publications

References 25 publications

Nitrogen management is essential to prevent tropical oil palm plantations from causing ground-level ozone pollution

Nitrogen management is essential to prevent tropical oil palm plantations from causing ground-level ozone pollution

Fluxes and concentrations of volatile organic compounds from a South-East Asian tropical rainforest

Overview: oxidant and particle photochemical processes above a south-east Asian tropical rainforest (the OP3 project): introduction, rationale, location characteristics and tools

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