A comparison between monitoring and dispersion modeling approaches to assess the impact of aviation on concentrations of black carbon and nitrogen oxides at Los Angeles International Airport

Abstract

Aircraft activity and airport operations can increase combustion-related air pollutant concentrations, but it is difficult to distinguish aviation emissions from traffic and other local sources. Emission inventories are uncertain and dispersion models may not capture aircraft plume complexity; ambient monitoring data require detailed statistical analyses to extract aviation signals. The goal of this study is to compare two modeling approaches including monitoring-based regression models and the EDMS/AERMOD dispersion model, informing improvements and allowing quantitation of aviation impacts on air quality through multi-pollutant sensitivity and multi-monitor fate/transport analyses. Aggregate concentration comparisons are similar, though diurnal patterns show potential weaknesses in near-field dispersion, treatment of overnight conditions, and emission inventory accuracy.

Keywords: Air quality; Aviation; Black carbon; Dispersion modeling; Nitrogen oxides; Regression.