Synoptic weather evolution and climate drivers associated with winter air pollution in New Zealand

Developmental Biology

S.L. Fiddes²  A.B. Pezza¹  D. Mills⁴  T.A. Mitchell³  K. Kozyniak⁵ 

[1]Environmental Science Department, Greater Wellington Regional Council, New Zealand$$School of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand$$

[2]Australian-German Climate and Energy College, School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia$$ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate System Science, School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Australia$$

[3]Environmental Science Department, Greater Wellington Regional Council, New Zealand$$

[4]Resource Science, Otago Regional Council, New Zealand$$

[5]Resource Management Group, Hawkes Bay Regional Council, New Zealand$$

关键词: New Zealand;    Particulate matter;    Air pollution;    Synoptic;    Climatology;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.apr.2016.06.014

学科分类：农业科学（综合）

来源: Dokuz Eylul Universitesi * Department of Environmental Engineering

【 摘 要 】

Particulate matter pollution of less than 10 μm in diameter (PM₁₀) is a problem for some regional and urban centres across New Zealand during the winter period when solid fuel (wood and coal) fires are used for home heating. Elevated levels of PM₁₀ concentrations occur during stable atmospheric conditions, when cool air temperatures and low wind speeds allow for a surface inversion to occur and trap PM₁₀. This study examined the relationships between PM₁₀ and local and large-scale synoptic conditions at daily and seasonal scales. Minimum temperature and wind speed were both negatively correlated with PM₁₀ during the winter season, whilst the combination of the two can explain 30–54% of variability in average PM₁₀. Synoptic-scale daily composites of high PM₁₀ days showed the evolution of an anticyclone in the Tasman Sea, with an injection of cool air over New Zealand and persistent south-westerly winds leading to cold and stable conditions on the day of exceedance. Both of these results indicate that there is some potential for predicting days in which atmospheric conditions could favour elevated PM₁₀ concentrations. Furthermore, at the seasonal scale, weaker westerly winds were found to be associated with winters with higher exceedance days, although the relationship is not straightforward. These characteristics can be associated with other, predictable large-scale climate drivers such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, and may aid in identifying years in which a higher risk of PM₁₀ pollution events exists.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   

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