Global, high-resolution, reduced-complexity air quality modeling for PM2.5 using InMAP (Intervention Model for Air Pollution)

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Abstract

Each year, millions of premature deaths worldwide are caused by exposure to outdoor air pollution, especially fine particulate matter (PM _2.5). Designing policies to reduce these deaths relies on air quality modeling for estimating changes in PM _2.5 concentrations from many scenarios at high spatial resolution. However, air quality modeling typically has substantial requirements for computation and expertise, which limits policy design, especially in countries where most PM _2.5-related deaths occur. Lower requirement reduced-complexity models exist but are generally unavailable worldwide. Here, we adapt InMAP, a reduced-complexity model originally developed for the United States, to simulate annual-average primary and secondary PM _2.5 concentrations across a global-through-urban spatial domain: “Global InMAP”. Global InMAP uses a variable resolution grid, with horizontal grid cell widths ranging from 500 km in remote locations to 4km in urban locations. We evaluate Global InMAP performance against both measurements and a state-of-the-science chemical transport model, GEOS-Chem. Against measurements, InMAP predicts total PM _2.5 concentrations with a normalized mean error of 62%, compared to 41% for GEOS-Chem. For the emission scenarios considered, Global InMAP reproduced GEOS-Chem pollutant concentrations with a normalized mean bias of 59%–121%, which is sufficient for initial policy assessment and scoping. Global InMAP can be run on a desktop computer; simulations here took 2.6–8.4 hours. This work presents a global, open-source, reduced-complexity air quality model to facilitate policy assessment worldwide, providing a screening tool for reducing air pollution-related deaths where they occur most.

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Author and article information

Contributors

Sumil K. Thakrar:

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2205-3333

Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: MethodologyRole: ResourcesRole: SoftwareRole: VisualizationRole: Writing – original draftRole: Writing – review & editing

Christopher W. Tessum: Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: MethodologyRole: ResourcesRole: SoftwareRole: SupervisionRole: Writing – review & editing

Joshua S. Apte: Role: Writing – review & editing

Srinidhi Balasubramanian: Role: Data curationRole: ResourcesRole: Writing – review & editing

Dylan B. Millet: Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: MethodologyRole: ResourcesRole: Writing – review & editing

Spyros N. Pandis: Role: Writing – review & editing

Julian D. Marshall: Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: MethodologyRole: ResourcesRole: SupervisionRole: Writing – review & editing

Jason D. Hill: Role: ConceptualizationRole: Data curationRole: MethodologyRole: ResourcesRole: SupervisionRole: Writing – review & editing

Yangyang Xu: Role: Editor

Journal

Journal ID (nlm-ta): PLoS One

Journal ID (iso-abbrev): PLoS One

Journal ID (publisher-id): plos

Title: PLoS ONE

Publisher: Public Library of Science (San Francisco, CA USA )

ISSN (Electronic): 1932-6203

Publication date (Electronic): 25 May 2022

Publication date Collection: 2022

Volume: 17

Issue: 5

Electronic Location Identifier: e0268714

Affiliations

[1 ] Department of Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, United States of America

[2 ] Department of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, United States of America

[3 ] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana−Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, United States of America

[4 ] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America

[5 ] School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, United States of America

[6 ] Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, University of Minnesota, St Paul, Minnesota, United States of America

[7 ] Department of Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America

[8 ] Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, Patras, Greece

[9 ] Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America

Texas A&M University, UNITED STATES

Author notes

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

[¤]

Current address: Environmental Science and Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

* E-mail: sthakrar@ 123456umn.edu (SKT); hill0408@ 123456umn.edu (JDH)

Author information

Sumil K. Thakrar https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2205-3333

Article

Publisher ID: PONE-D-21-31324

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0268714

PMC ID: 9132322

PubMed ID: 35613109

SO-VID: fb48bacf-3329-4042-8597-65249dadc9aa

License:

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

History

Date received : 28 September 2021

Date accepted : 5 May 2022