Fate and Transport of Pollutants in the Environment
Introduction
Air emission and 水 discharge introduce anthropogenic pollutants into the environment. The physical, chemical and biological transformations of pollutants in atmospheric and aquatic environments play a critical role in their toxicity and contamination pathways that render health, welfare and ecological effects. Sophisticated analytical and modeling tools are required to understand the complex interactions between the released pollutants and natural constituents. These understandings form the basis for policy making and environmental protection pertinent to 水 and 空气 quality.
Dr. Lin’s Environmental Modeling & Assessment Laboratory develops, evaluates and applies first-principle and statistical models to determine the causes of pollution events, to delineate pollutant source-receptor relationship, and to understand the global biogeochemical cycling of persistent pollutants.
Model Development & Evaluation
Atmospheric & aquatic models are mathematical representations of concurring processes in the natural environment. The parameterization and formulation allow scientific analysis of complicated interactions and serve as predictive tools for pollution events after rigorous model validation ad evaluation.
林C.-J., Singhasuk P., Pehkonen S. O. “Atmospheric Chemistry of mercury,” in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology of Mercury, (Eds.) G. 刘等人., John Wiley & 儿子公司., New York, USA, 2011.
Chemical cycling of mercury in the natural environment
Source Apportionment of Pollutants
An important task in environmental assessment is to identify the emission sources and determine their relative contribution to the pollution. Such apportionments provide valuable data for policy makers to formulate strategies for 水 and 空气 quality management. Using first-principle models, the emission from a specific source can be isolated and the source contribution to a pollution scenario can be calculated. Based on the source strength, the required degree of emission reduction to attain 空气/水 quality goals are then estimated.
林C.-J.谢蒂·S., Pongprueksa P.等。. “Source Attribution for Mercury Deposition in the Contiguous US.” Journal of Air & Waste Management Ass., 62, (1), 52-63, 2012.
Relative strength of contributing emission source categories
Intercontinental Transport of Pollutants
Long-lived 空气 pollutants (e.g.、汞 & toxic organics) are persistent in the environment and subject to long-range transport at regional and global scales. Under favorable meteorological conditions, transport of 空气 pollutants from East Asia to North America take 7-10 days. Such events can be simulated using atmospheric circulation models coupled with chemistry modules describing 空气 dispersion & chemical transformation.
林C.-J.潘莉., Pongprueksa P.等。. “Estimating Mercury Emission Outflow from East Asia Using CMAQ-Hg.” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 10, (4), 1853-1864,2010.
Long-range transport of 空气 pollutants across the Pacific Ocean
Biogeochemical Cycling
Pollutants undergo regional & global cycling via biogeochemical processes that distribute the pollutant in different environmental compartments (soil, 空气, 水, 生物质, 等.). Using process model coupled with stable isotopic tracing techniques, the translocation and accumulation of pollutants can be confidently determined.
崔L.、冯欣.，林超.-J.等。. “Accumulation & Translocation of 198Hg in Vegetation.”Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry , 33, 334-340, 2014.
Schematics of pollutant cycling in forest ecosystems
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Center for Advances in Water & Air Quality
Lamar University
Beaumont, TX 77710-0088