Sensitivity of ultrafine particle and black carbon simulations to model resolution and emission data in urban environment with a focus on Barcelona
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Under the new Ambient Air Quality Directive, monitoring of ultrafine particles as particle number (PN) and black carbon (BC) is required due to their health impacts, making their improved representation in air quality models particularly relevant. This study investigates the influence of spatial resolution and anthropogenic emission inventories on the simulation of PN, BC, and regulated pollutants (NO 2 , O 3 , PM 10 , PM 2.5 ) at urban background sites in Europe, with particular focus on Barcelona (Spain). Simulations were performed with the WRF/CHIMERE/SSH-aerosol system over three nested domains at 15, 5, and 1 km horizontal resolution. Over Spain, at 5 and 1 km resolutions, the European-scale EMEP inventory (10 km spatial resolution) and the Spanish high-resolution bottom-up emission inventory HERMESv3 BU (1 km spatial resolution) were evaluated. The choice of emission inventory exerts a control on model performance, particularly for NO 2 , BC and PN. At 5 km resolution, HERMESv3 reduces the systematic underestimation of pollutant concentrations compared to EMEP. While increasing resolution from 15 km to 5 km improves urban gradients, further refinement to 1 km does not substantially improve statistical performance at the urban background station of Barcelona; however, it enhances the representation of spatial heterogeneities and sharpens intra-urban gradients, especially for NO 2 , BC, and PN. The modelling framework and methodology implemented enable the simulation of emerging pollutants, such as BC and PN, with a statistical performance comparable to that achieved for regulated pollutants.
Source: Environmental Pollution
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,090
OpenAlex ID: W7166699866