Atmospheric and Climate Modeling

Many Harvard-China Project studies of air pollution use chemical transport models, including a nested-grid version of GEOS-Chem focused on East Asia. Other studies consider the effects of climate change on air quality, renewable power potentials, and energy demands for heating and cooling, using ensembles of climate models such as CMIP6.

Validated by agreement of modeled concentrations with measurements made by ground stations, aircraft, and satellites, nested-grid models can differentiate air transport mechanisms for regions of east and south Asia on a finer scale than previously possible. They capture the effects of sources far outside of the target domain and also of seasonally changing meteorology—such as cold fronts in winter and monsoons in summer—on regional air quality. 

The China Project's atmospheric research is committed to building observationally validated, fundamental research on the physical and chemical dimensions of China’s atmospheric environment, from urban to global scales. Complementing the model-based research described here, it includes atmospheric observations and both bottom-up and top-down emissions research.