GAW Report No. 205 - IGAC Project

CHAPTER 7 – OVERVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH ACTIVITIESSantiago, Chile in October 2003; this was followed by a WRF-Chem and Remote SensingWorkshop in Sao Paolo, Brazil in 2005. The first GURME basic training course on air qualityforecasting was delivered in July 2006 in Lima, Peru and included participants from the SouthAmerican countries, generally from the NMHSs and Environmental Agencies. A comprehensiveTraining Course on Air Quality Modelling for Latin American Cities Project was held in Mexico City,Mexico in August 2009. Training was held for Central American countries in October 2011. Moreexpert workshops and training courses will be convened in the future as needed. A discussionforum with a network of scientists and groups active in Latin American cities and internationalexperts will be established to facilitate the exchange of information on air quality modelling andforecasting. The main contributors to this project are Luisa Molina, Maria de Fatima Andrade, PauloArtaxo, Pedro Oyola, Rainer Schmitz and Laura Gallardo.Beijing projectThe Study of Mechanism on Atmospheric Environmental Pollution in Capital Beijing projectwas established in 1998. Key scientific problems were:• Environmental and geochemical cycling processes and behaviour of atmospheric pollutants• The accumulative effect and tolerance of atmospheric pollutants in regional environments• The prediction theory of the atmospheric environment• The principles of pollution control on regional scales.The main topics were:• The mechanism of the formation of PBL pollution and its effects on the environment in Beijing• The physical, chemical and ecological function of pollutant between atmosphere and planetaryboundary layer• Formation mechanism of sand-dust and its impact on urban environment in Beijing• Theory and method of city atmosphere environment pollution monitoring and forecasting• Atmospheric environment pollution regulation and tackling technique in a comprehensive way.Shanghai projectShanghai faces multiple hazards, it is frequently affected by natural hazards such astyphoons, storm surges, heavy fog, heat-waves, and also by atmospheric pollution. Shanghai Expo– successfully launched new air quality and related services as a component of the Expo MultiHazard Early Warning System (MHEWS) Demonstration Project. The project under the leadershipof Xu Tang, Director General, Shanghai Regional Meteorological Center, CMA, is designed toexplore the full potentials of urban life in the 21st century. Key elements of the project are todisclose the physical and chemical mechanisms during the formation, transportation andtransformation processes of the main air pollutants in the Shanghai area, to establish an airpollution prediction system for the Shanghai area, and to improve the assessment techniques ofenvironmental quality. The observation capacity was increased considerably. Based on variousmeasurements (meteorological and environmental observations, diseases diagnostics) new andcomprehensive forecast products to support public health services were developed anddemonstrated during Expo. The services include those for air quality, pollen, food poisoning andheat stroke, among others. Through these services effective actions to protect the health ofindividuals, especially those in sensitive groups, will be designed. The project continues with furtherdevelopment of the public health services focus.Commonwealth Games New DelhiThe Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, a constituent under the Ministry ofEarth Sciences, Government of India, with Gufran Beig as the co-ordinator, led the country's firstmajor initiative on air quality forecasting, named as "System of Air Quality forecasting and Research(SAFAR)". It has been successfully tested during the commonwealth Games 2010 for NationalCapital Region Delhi. Currently SAFAR is being spread to other major cities in India.276