| Last Update: March 10, 2009 |
| MICS-Asia |
| A model intercomparison study in Asia |
| IIASA | International Institute for Applied System Analysis, Laxenburg, Austria |
| ADORC | Acid Deposition and Oxidant Research Center, Niigata, Japan |
| IAP | Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China |
| CGRER | Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, University of Iowa, U.S.A. |
| CRIEPI | Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, Tokyo, Japan |
| DPRI | Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University, Japan |
| CONTENTS | |
| Prospectus |
Specifics of Phase
II | Data
Protocol Progress and timetable | Current Participants | Contact Persons |
|
| Prospectus |
| In order to have a common understanding of model performance and uncertainties in Asia, a model intercomparison study on long-range transport and deposition of sulfur, called MICS-Asia Phase I, was carried out during the period from 1998 to 2000. Eight models participated in the Phase-I study. The outcome of the model intercomparison exercise was discussed at the Third Workshop on the Transport of Air Pollutants in Asia, held at IIASA in September 2000. The findings of the Phase I activity were published in the following references: |
|
| As it was concluded at the Fourth Workshop on the
Transport of Air Pollutants in Asia held at IIASA in October 2001, further
model intercomparison study (MICS-Asia Phase II) would be useful to
improve the understanding of the long-range transport of air pollutants in
Asia. While the Phase I focused exclusively on sulfur compounds, it was
recognized that a wider perspective could yield important insights
including nitrogen compounds, ozone and aerosols to be critical for
effective control of various environmental problems. Taking into account the conclusions of the Forth Workshop, plans of MICS-Asia Phase II were discussed at the Fifth Workshop on Transport of Air Pollutants in Asia held at IIASA in January 2003. Based on the discussions, the outline of Phase II was developed. According to the outline of Phase II, participants prepared necessary common data and then carried out preliminary model simulations after the Fifth Workshop. At the Sixth Workshop held at IIASA in February 2004, the specifics of Phase II was discussed, taking into account the preliminary results reported by the participants. The updated specifics are shown as follows: |
| Specifics of Phase II | |
| The model intercomparison study in Phase II aims at
transport and deposition of sulfur, nitrogen compounds, ozone and aerosols
in East Asia. |
|
| Domain | |
Study domain is confined to East Asia. A reference domain
is defined as follows (in degrees of geographical coordinates):
|
|
| Periods | |
| Four periods are selected as
follows: Period 1: March 1 to 31 in 2001, Period 2: July 1 to 31 in 2001, Period 3: December 1 to 31 in 2001, Period 4: March 1 to 31 in 2002.
|
|
| Emission data (updated) | |
| Use of same emission fields for all models | |
| It is highly recommended for the model intercomparison
that all modeling teams use the same standard emissions. If this turns out
to be impossible for a model, the model should still participate with its
own emissions, but clearly state this. The following standard emissions can be provided by the contact persons of ADORC upon request.
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|
| Emission inventory comparison study | |
| Emission inventory comparison study is encouraged in Phase II. The emission inventory experts who want to join this study are requested to make a comparison of their own inventories with the ones suggested above. | |
| Meteorological field | |
| Participants can choose whether to use their own
meteorological fields or to use reference meteorological fields prepared
by Prof. Z. Wang, IAP using MM5. But the participants who wish to use
their own meteorological fields are requested to compare them with the
reference meteorological fields. The reference meteorological fields offered by Prof. Z. Wang, IAP are distributed upon request by the contact persons of ADORC. |
|
| Boundary conditions (updated) | |
| Boundary conditions prepared by Dr. T. Holloway, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, using a global model (MOZART-2) can be downloaded from the following website. | |
| http://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/~tah/MICS.html | |
| Participants who set a smaller domain than the reference
one could consult with Dr. T. Holloway (taholloway@wisc.edu) about
specific boundary conditions. |
|
| Monitoring data | |
| EANET (Acid Deposition Monitoring Network in East Asia)
monitoring data and their relevant information are provided by ADORC with
the agreement of the "Procedures on Data and Information Disclosure for
EANET", which was adopted at the Third Session of the Intergovernmental
Meeting of EANET in 2001. LTP project (Joint Research on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollutants) provides its monitoring data including aircraft observations for the Phase II study. [ Notice ] For the time being, participants who use the data mentioned above such as emission, meteorological field, boundary condition and monitoring are requested to use the data only for the study of MICS-Asia Phase II. |
|
| Data Protocol |
| It is requested that participants submit model results according to the Data Protocol. It can be downloaded from the following. |
| http://www.adorc.gr.jp/adorc/mics/Data_Protocol.pdf |
| http://www.adorc.gr.jp/adorc/mics/Data_Protocol_additional.doc |
| Progress of Phase II | ||||||||||||||||
| [Working Group Meeting in Kyoto (November 2004)] | ||||||||||||||||
| The 1st meeting of the Working Group on MICS-Asia Phase
II was held on 18-20 November 2004 at Kyoto University, Japan. Results of
preliminary analysis for the model intercomparison among 7 model results
were discussed. General comments and conclusions were done as
follows: Participating models | ||||||||||||||||
| Eight model results submitted will be analyzed by WG for
the first publications. Other model results will be invited for the
further comparisons after the first
publications. Analyses | ||||||||||||||||
| There are large discrepancies among current model
results. ADORC should contact the modelers to confirm some errors on unit
conversion, accumulation period of deposition etc. ADORC also should
contact the participants to clarify exact input data and detailed
mechanism.Preliminary analysis should be done using same scale and domain.
Comparison with monitoring data should be done by each site classification
(remote, rural, urban). Under estimation of Russian sites and Rishiri
(Hokkaido) are possibly caused by uncertainty of emissions in Russia. The
forest fire of Siberia in March 2002 should be taken into account for the
analysis of Case 4. Working Group topics | ||||||||||||||||
Topics analyzed by Working Group members were clarified
as follows. The meeting discussed each topic in detail.
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| [7th Mics-Asia Workshop (February 2005)] | ||||||||||||||||
| Detailed analysis was made and the progresses of each
topic were presented by Working Group. In addition, latest activities of
modeling and emission inventory related to MICS-Asia were presented by
participants in the workshop. Publication strategy was discussed and determined. An overview paper and some papers on topics such as ozone, aerosols, deposition and relationship with global model will be prepared and finally submitted to the journal Atmospheric Environment. | ||||||||||||||||
| [8th Mics-Asia Workshop (January 2006)] | ||||||||||||||||
| After the 7th Workshop, Working Group members had been
preparing their scientific papers regarding for each topics, and the
preliminary drafts of some topics had been circulated by e-mail. In the
8th Workshop, Working Group Members gave presentations about their
progress, and fruitful discussions were made with useful comments and
suggestions from other MICS participants in order to develop the contents
of the papers. In addition to 5 papers mentioned above, it was decided at the Workshop that further scientific papers would be prepared by cooperation of MICS participants. New topics of analysis and the persons in charge were as follows:
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| The possibility of the next activity and its procedure
will be discussed among participants after the submission of the
papers. | ||||||||||||||||
| [9th Mics-Asia Workshop (February 2007)] | ||||||||||||||||
| The main objectives of the 9th workshop were to establish progress in submission of papers on the second phase of MICS,
to present ongoing activities of participants that are of relevance for further steps of MICS,
to discuss activities that should be undertaken in the next phase of MICS-Asia,
and to plan the project preparation of phase 2.
There was general understanding that the next phase should include multi-scale simulations, with sensitivity analyses for urban and regional scale emissions changes, source-receptor relationships for the regional scale and some activities that provide meaningful insights for the hemispheric transport of pollution. In particular, the model intercomparison exercise should further investigate reasons why models respond differently, review improvements of models and their impacts on results, and prepare reference results for general use by other modelling teams as well as the public. It was suggested that the next phase of MICS should extend over a longer time frame, in order to enable a more efficient long-term planning of the activities of the modelling. In the meantime, it was agreed to implement the interpolation of studies in Phase 2 and further investigation for the improvement of model performance as Phase 2-x. | ||||||||||||||||
| [10th Mics-Asia Workshop (February 2008)] | ||||||||||||||||
| In line with the conclusion in 9th MICS-Asia Workshop, each participant has been proceeding to the complementary study for Phase 2 activities.
The main purpose of 10th workshop was to discuss the concrete contents to be conducted in Phase 3 in accordance with the interest and progress of each participant.
All participants gave presentations concerning their modeling works and interesting topics to be conducted in MICS as Phase III project.
According to the discussion, it was decided that the following topics would be conducted as Phase III activities; | ||||||||||||||||
Leaders were elected for each topic and every leader is requested to prepare and submit "Terms of Reference" to ADORC.
The minutes prepared by IIASA can be seen
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