ASMD
Barbara Stunder delivered the hysplit.v7.7.0 code to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) for implementation on the NCEP Phase 3 (Dell) supercomputer. NCEP will be decommissioning the Phase 1/2 supercomputers in March, 2020, and has been requiring the developers to transition and test the code before delivery. The current operational version on Phase 2 is v7.6.2 (ARL r856). The only scientific change in the code is an off-season fire option to alleviate the impact of overestimates of fire smoke emission in winter and early spring. There were many changes in the scripts due to the new architecture and some new software on Phase 3 (e.g. Python used for smoke).

Dr. Ariel Stein, ARL’s Acting Deputy Director, will participate in the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) Global Atmospheric Watch leadership and steering committee meeting November 11-14 in Geneva, Switzerland. Stein is chair of WMO’s Total Atmospheric Deposition Science Advisory Group (SAG). Meeting attendees will discuss the impact of WMO’s reorganization into different research and application activities developed by the eight SAGs.

ARL/ASMD will host Professor Clavery Tungaraza from Sokoine University of Agriculture in Morogoro, Tanzania, from November 11-13 to discuss the potential future use of atmospheric mercury measurements and modeling in his research on the environmental impacts of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) activities in Tanzania. ASMD’s Dr. Mark Cohen is Professor Tungaraza’s U.S. research partner under a three-year United States Agency for International Development Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) grant designed to partner U.S. government-funded researchers with scientists and engineers in developing countries to address global development challenges. Globally, ASGM is believed to be the largest source of anthropogenic mercury to the environment. Tungaraza’s home laboratory is establishing a measurement capability that is relatively rare in Africa and will aid in preparations to ratify the Minamata Convention. Professor Tungaraza will work with Winston Luke, Xinrong Ren, and Paul Kelley on measurement techniques and with Mark Cohen on modeling methodologies.

Have you ever wondered about the future of human emissions, climate change, and nitrogen deposition from the atmosphere to regional watersheds? If so, Dr. Patrick Campbell and co-authors have recently published a new article on the subject in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. In this study, a global climate scenario is used to drive a regional‐scale weather and air quality model to investigate the potential impacts of future climate, emission, and agroecosystem changes on atmospheric nitrogen loading to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The combined climate and emission changes lead to decreases in the atmospheric nitrogen loading to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed by the year 2050, while the effects of climate alone lead to a small increase in atmospheric nitrogen loading. The results demonstrate the importance of emission reductions on nitrogen loading to the Chesapeake Bay, in the face of climate change. Reference:
Campbell, P. C., J. Bash, C. Nolte, T. Spero, E. J. Cooter, K. Hinson, and L. Linker (2019). Projections of Atmospheric Nitrogen Deposition to the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. J.Geophys. Res. Biogeosci., Accepted on October 24, 2019. In production. doi: 10.1029/2019JG005203. AGU Online Library: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2019JG005203

From November 4-7, Winston Luke attended the National Atmospheric Deposition Program (NADP) Scientific Symposium and Fall Meeting in Boulder, Colorado. Scientific and technical committees, including the Network Operations Subcommittee on which Dr. Luke serves as Secretary, met for two days prior to the symposium start on Nov. 6. Hosted by the University of Colorado-Boulder Williams Village Center, the symposium consisted of presentations and discussion on new frontiers for atmospheric monitoring networks. Two events of importance to ARL’s mercury monitoring program occurred at the meeting. First, a new ad hoc science subcommittee called Mercury in the Environment and Links to Deposition (MELD) convened its inaugural meeting, with Dr. Luke in attendance and Dr. Mark Cohen, an internationally recognized expert in mercury biogeochemistry, engaged remotely. Second, Dr. Luke presented a summary/overview of global monitoring initiative Global Observing System for Mercury (GOS4M) to inform NADP’s consideration of membership in the initiative. This presentation took place during the meeting of NADP’s Executive Committee, which provides program direction to NADP.