BIPHOREP research proposal
Economic and social impacts
Except for ozone, there is no other compound in the troposphere where the difference between
actual atmospheric levels and toxic levels is so marginal. Increased levels of ozone are of
major concern because of its adverse effects on human health, materials and ecosystems.
There are also a number of investigations showing synergistic effects between ozone and
acidifying compounds (Guderian and Tingey, 1989). Due to the complex chemistry of ozone
and its multirelational connections with many other atmospheric trace gases, any attempt to
define a cost-effective reduction policy addressing either long-term means or episodic peak
values or both requires a wide amount of basic data (among other emission inventories of
ozone precursors) and a deep understanding of ozone formation under various conditions.
This proposal aims to address both issue: it will provide transparent and accurate BVOC
emission inventories and assess ozone formation under high BVOC emission densities,
episodic intrusion of NOx precursors and prolonged enlightment conditions in the boreal
summer.
Ongoing European-wide negotiations for reducing ozone levels through VOC and NOx
emission abatement intend to take into account the differential ozone formation potential of
the various precursors as well as the potential impacts in relation to the varying sensitivity of
receptors across Europe. The results of this project will be very important for such
negotiations in providing a better understanding of these issues for an extended set of areas
and conditions. Especially, our results will be available for the UNECE and the EMEP model
group to run various relevant scenarios.
The establishment of an emission database per-se will also have important applications since
emission inventories serve several purposes that will benefit from the findings of this project.
Inventories help to:
- assess the fate of pollutants in the environment and their potential impacts;
- identify the activities, processes or areas responsible for different emissions;
- assess potential impacts and implications of different development strategies;
- identify priorities for emission reductions;
- set explicit sustainability objectives and constraints;
- improve the information available to policy makers, interest groups and the public;
- evaluate the environmental costs and benefits of different policies;
- ensure that policies, agreements and regulations are being complied with; and
- assess the effectiveness of policy actions in achieving desired objectives.
Maximum benefit from this project will be achieved by close contact with the EMEP and the
CORINAIR groups.
Our results will be also relevant for landuse planning, reforestation or afforestation planning
(e.g., what is the best mix of trees for reducing BVOC emission under changing climatic
conditions?).
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Contents of research proposal
BIPHOREP