In order to clarify the mechanism of springtime air pollution in the Kansai region of Japan, a series of numerical simulations using a chemical transport model developed by Ohara
et al. (2001) was conducted. Result of the base-case sumulation showed that NO
X emissions from vessels over Osaka Bay and local wind circulation play an important roles in the formation of high springtime concentrations of NO
2 in Kansai.
A sensitivity analysis consisting of three sets of process analyses was subsequently conducted. The purpose of the process analysis was to understand the relative roles of background ozone (BG-0
3), photochemical ozone, transported NO
2, and primary emissions NO
2 in controlling NO
2 formation in the Kansai area. According to numerical experiments, the relative ratios of the production processes of surface NO
2 over the model domain were summarized as follows:(1) primary NO
2 emission was 10%;(2) transported NO
2 through the model boundaries was 40%;(3) the chemical production of NO
2 was 50%, which consisted of 60% produced by reaction with BG-0
3 and 10% loss due to photochemical processes. The simulated results also show that the primary source is surface ozone BG-0
3 rather than photochemical ozone.
The results of emission reduction experiments revealed that the relationship between NO
X reduction ratio and NO
2 concentration was almost linear in the urban area, but reduced NMHC emission yielded in sufficient results to determine reductions in environmental concentration of NO
2. The effects of BG-0
3 to NO
2 concentrations were great. NO
2 concentrations decreased with a decline in BG-0
3, and this tendency was especially marked under conditions of lower BG-0
3 level.
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