Call for framework contract for the provision of support for atmospheric composition modelling
The European Commission has published a call for a framework contract for the provision of support for atmospheric composition modelling. The aim of the tender is to provide scientific and technical support services available on demand, in the fields of regional and inverse modelling and emission inventory development. It is organised into three sections: - development expertise in regional atmospheric chemistry-transport modelling; - development expertise in emission inventories; - development expertise in inverse modelling of emissions. To study the chemical composition of the atmosphere over Europe, a model requires high spatial and temporal resolution. The current global three-dimensional, chemistry-transport models have rather coarse resolution. For the ECHAM model, the maximum resolution is about 200 km, with the advantage that this model is a real climate model with feedbacks between meteorology and atmospheric composition. The TM5 model has no meteorological feedbacks, but has a higher resolution up to 100 km or even higher in zoom mode over selected areas. Due to its potential for higher resolution, the TM5 model will be used to explore regional tracer composition, while maintaining consistent global boundary conditions. Also part of this call, the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR) describes global anthropogenic emissions over the last decades. The latest version covers the period 1970-2008 and provides annual total emissions for greenhouse gases (CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs, SF6) and air pollutants (CO, NOx, NMVOC, SO2, NH3) as well as emissions specified by source category. The inventory is used to analyse current emissions, historical trends, and is used as input to climate and air-quality models. Development expertise in inverse modelling of emissions is the third part of this call. Inverse modelling activities focus on 'top-down' emission estimates of the greenhouse gases CH4 and N2O, using four-dimensional variational-optimisation techniques. Source strengths (and locally also sinks) of these gases are estimated using inverse modelling on a resolution of a global scale in selected regions. The temporal resolution is currently one month, allowing for seasonal fluctuations in emissions from, for example, biomass burning, rice cultivation and wetlands.To see the official call announcement, please consult: OJ No S 59 of 24 March 2012(opens in new window)