Air Quality Modelling and Atmospheric Emission Assessment
Summary
Air quality modelling and atmospheric emission assessment constitute a cornerstone of modern environmental science, combining observations, emission inventories and numerical simulation to characterise the distribution, fate and impacts of air pollutants. Emission inventories compile quantitative estimates of pollutant releases from sectors such as transport, industry, agriculture and natural sources, disaggregated spatially and temporally. Chemical transport models then integrate these inventories with meteorological data and gas-phase and aerosol chemistry to predict concentrations of key species—NOx, volatile organic compounds, ozone and particulate matter—across scales from urban to global. Advances in high-resolution gridded emissions, coupled with satellite retrievals and low-cost sensor networks, have improved the representation of local hotspots and long-range transport. The resulting forecasts and scenario analyses inform regulatory strategies, health impact assessments and climate co-benefit studies. Contemporary research focuses on reducing uncertainties in source apportionment, refining emission factors for emerging sources, and linking air quality projections with demographic and economic scenarios. By integrating multi-scale modelling frameworks—from nested regional to Earth-system models—researchers can explore feedbacks between chemistry, meteorology and land use, guiding policies to mitigate health risks and fulfil international air quality targets.
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Air Quality Modelling and Atmospheric Emission Assessment publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in air quality modelling and atmospheric emission assessment across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Emission inventory: A dataset compiling rates of pollutant release by source category across time and space.
Chemical transport model (CTM): A numerical simulation that represents atmospheric chemistry, physics and transport processes to predict pollutant concentrations.
Gridded emissions: The allocation of emission inventory data onto a regular latitude–longitude grid for use in atmospheric models.
Particulate matter (PM2.5/PM10): Airborne particles with aerodynamic diameters ≤2.5 µm or ≤10 µm, important for human health and climate forcing.
Source apportionment: Analytical methods used to attribute ambient pollutant levels to specific emission sources or sectors.
References
- Uncertainties in source allocation of carbonaceous aerosols in a Mediterranean region. Environment International (2023).
- Assessment of health burden due to the emissions of fine particulate matter from motor vehicles: A case of Nakhon Ratchasima province, Thailand. The Science of The Total Environment (2023).
- CAMS-REG-v4: a state-of-the-art high-resolution European emission inventory for air quality modelling. Earth System Science Data (2022).
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