Effects of ozone air pollution on crop pollinators and pollination

Human driven environmental changes increase the concentrations of polluting reactive compounds in the troposphere, such as ozone and nitrogen oxides. These changes lead to biodiversity losses and alter plant physiology and plant-pollinator interactions, essential for pollination services, with potential consequences for agricultural production. Here we used 133 unique sampling events from NW Europe to investigate how air pollution (ozone and nitrogen oxides) and other sources of nitrogen is related to pollinator visitation rate and their contribution to agricultural production, also considering possible interactive effects with landscape quality and pesticide input. We showed that ozone modulates the effect of pesticide exposure and temperature on crop pollinators, increasing the probability of negative impacts on crop pollination. Indeed, when ozone levels are highest, the strength of the effect of pesticide on pollinators is more than double then when ozone levels are intermediate. This indicates that air pollution should be considered in management plans and policies aiming to safeguard biodiversity and promote more sustainable food production practices.     

四川盆地一次当地排放和沙尘输送双重影响的区域空气重污染过程研究

针对四川盆地大气污染及其成因的特殊性,本文使用四川盆地18个城市的大气污染监测和气象观测数据以及NCEP1°×1再分析资料,对2017年12月19日～2018年1月3日四川盆地由当地过量排放和外来沙尘输送双重影响的区域性大气污染过程进行分析。结果表明：2017年12月19～28日四川盆地环流场配置不利大气污染物扩散,垂直温度层结稳定,在当地污染源持续排放下污染物浓度缓慢上升,此阶段为静稳型大气污染。之后29日冷空气过程打破前期不利污染物扩散的环流场及垂直温度层结,导致气态污染物下降明显,但伴随冷空气活动的外来沙尘使PM10浓度迅速增大,使四川盆地部分城市出现沙尘型重污染;特别是广元地区受沙尘直接影响最严重,PM10浓度是原来的4.5倍;成都市虽没有通过沙尘天气的表观判断,但对颗粒物离子浓度和化学组分都有显著影响;因此,当时PM10和CO浓度24h比值变化受沙尘输送和天气条件共同影响,在不同时段和地区都存在明显差异,初步揭示出由静稳型大气污染向沙尘型污染转换阶段的内在变化特征,具有重要科学价值。     

Study of ozone distribution over the south-eastern France (ESCOMPTE campaign): discrimination between ozone tendencies due to chemistry and to transport

Ozone tendencies due to chemistry and transport are calculated by a mesoscale model using a fine horizontal resolution (3 km × 3 km), over South-Eastern France. Over that region where the anthropogenic emissions are very strong, ozone pollution is highlighted during two intensive observations periods of the ESCOMPTE campaign, when the sea breeze penetrates far into the Durance and Rhone valleys and the up-slope breezes are developed. From a fine analysis of time series of ozone concentration at different ground stations along these valleys and from numerical results, it is possible to discriminate the tendency due to chemistry from the tendency due to dynamical processes. We can distinguish both processes, either local chemical production/loss or dynamical increase/decrease (transport, deposition) on maps of ozone budget according to the meteorological conditions. In particular, we show that the variations due to transport can be have the same order of magnitude than those due to chemistry, reaching 20 ppbv h⁻¹, whereas those due to chemistry are around 30 ppbv h⁻¹.     

The mistral and its effect on air pollution transport and vertical mixing

Within the framework of ESCOMPTE, the influence of local wind systems like land–sea/mountain–valley winds on the distribution of air pollutants in the southern part of the Rhône valley and the coastal regions of southern France was investigated. In addition, the influence of the mistral on the long-range transport and vertical mixing of such substances on July 1, 2001 was analyzed. The results of the measurements of this mistral situation show high concentrations of O₃ and NO₂ in the layer just above the PBL at the southern exit of the Rhône valley near Avignon. By measurements from airborne and ground-based platforms and numerical simulations with the “Local Model” (LM) of the German Weather Service (DWD), it is shown that the mistral develops according to the theory conceived by Pettré [J. Atmos. Sci. 39 (1982) 542–554]. The synoptic-scale northerly flow through the Rhône valley is accelerated up to a Froude number (Fr) of 2.1, while the valley widens. Then, near the Mediterranean coast, a hydraulic jump occurs and Fr drops down to values below 1.0. High ozone concentrations of 112 ppb measured above the mistral layer disappear due to enhanced mixing after the flow has passed the hydraulic jump. There is some evidence that the ozone-rich air originates from the source region of greater Paris or upwind. The results confirm that regional wind systems associated with transport of trace gases in the high-grade industrialized Rhône valley can be successfully predicted using data of operational weather forecast models.     

Near future (2016-40) summer precipitation changes over China as projected by a regional climate model (RCM) under the RCP8.5 emissions scenario: Comparison between RCM downscaling and the driving GCM

Multi-decadal high resolution simulations over the CORDEX East Asia domain were performed with the regional climate model RegCM3 nested within the Flexible Global Ocean-Atmosphere-Land System model, Grid-point Version 2 (FGOALS-g2). Two sets of simulations were conducted at the resolution of 50 km, one for present day (1980–2005) and another for near-future climate (2015–40) under the Representative Concentration Pathways 8.5 (RCP8.5) scenario. Results show that RegCM3 adds value with respect to FGOALS-g2 in simulating the spatial patterns of summer total and extreme precipitation over China for present day climate. The major deficiency is that RegCM3 underestimates both total and extreme precipitation over the Yangtze River valley. The potential changes in total and extreme precipitation over China in summer under the RCP8.5 scenario were analyzed. Both RegCM3 and FGOALS-g2 results show that total and extreme precipitation tend to increase over northeastern China and the Tibetan Plateau, but tend to decrease over southeastern China. In both RegCM3 and FGOALS-g2, the change in extreme precipitation is weaker than that for total precipitation. RegCM3 projects much stronger amplitude of total and extreme precipitation changes and provides more regional-scale features than FGOALS-g2. A large uncertainty is found over the Yangtze River valley, where RegCM3 and FGOALS-g2 project opposite signs in terms of precipitation changes. The projected change of vertically integrated water vapor flux convergence generally follows the changes in total and extreme precipitation in both RegCM3 and FGOALS-g2, while the amplitude of change is stronger in RegCM3. Results suggest that the spatial pattern of projected precipitation changes may be more affected by the changes in water vapor flux convergence, rather than moisture content itself.     

Land-Air Interaction over Arid/Semi-arid Areas in China and Its Impact on the East Asian Summer Monsoon. Part I： Calibration of the Land Surface Model （BATS） Using Multicriteria Methods

To improve the land surface simulation in the arid and semi-arid areas of northern China, the observational data from two field experiments in Dunhuang and Tongyu are used to optimize the parameters in the land surface model, BATS, through calibration with the multicriteria method. Sensitivity analysis to the parameters in Dunhuang and Tongyu indicates that different parameters need to be calibrated in two sites with different environmental and climate regimes. Comparison of observed sensible heat flux, latent heat flux, and ground surface temperature with the simulated ones shows the simulations with the optimized parameters have been substantially improved. Especially, the holistic simulations with the calibration of the parameter values are much closer to the observations in the arid region (Dunhuang), and the energy partition with the calibrated parameters can also be simulated well in the semi-arid region (Tongyu). Whole results demonstrate that the parameter calibration of the land surface model is important when the model is to be used to investigate the land-air interaction.