An exploratory approach to estimate point emission sources

The current atmospheric emission inventories do not fully meet the spatial and temporal resolution requirements of air quality modelling applications. Considering Portugal as a case study and focusing on combustion point emission sources (i.e., public power, refineries, manufacturers, and construction activities), this work proposes a methodological approach and dataset to estimate anthropogenic emissions suitable for different spatial scales (from regional to local). The obtained results were similar to the annual values reported by the Portuguese Environment Agency with the maximum emissions being estimated for manufacturing and construction activities. No significant differences were recorded between the temporal profiles developed in this and previous studies. However, the country-specific proxies from the developed database allowed us to better represent the temporal and spatial patterns of the Portuguese atmospheric emissions. The combination of the BigAir database with a comprehensive and standardized approach could help policymakers define mitigation and/or plan measures to reduce emissions from point sources, support countries worldwide (with a lack of data) to develop high-resolution emission inventories, and improve the current global and European inventories.

Automated summary

This study proposes a method and dataset to estimate anthropogenic emissions suitable for different spatial scales in Portugal. The results were similar to the annual values reported by the Portuguese Environment Agency, with manufacturing and construction activities having the highest emissions. The country-specific proxies from the developed database improved the representation of temporal and spatial patterns of Portuguese atmospheric emissions.