Speaker: Dr. Hai-jiang Kong, Visiting Researcher |

Seminar Title: Weather conditions conducive to Henan severe haze and simulation of air pollutants transport |

Abstract: The frequency of Henan winter severe haze episodes has increased substantially over the past decades, and it is commonly attributed to increased pollutant emissions from China’s rapid economic development. Henan Province is one of the most severe polluted areas in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and its outskirts. Due to the prevailing surface wind and the Taihang Mountains terrain in the west part of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, a pollutant transport passage has been formed. In addition to climate change, weather conditions are conducive to the outbreaks of heavy pollution episodes. In particular, stagnation (weak wind, drier above 700hPa while more wet in the boundary layer, inversion, weak wind vertical shear, etc.) often occurs over Henan. Stagnation Weather Index (SWI) has been used for forecasting the weather conditions in Henan. Numerical simulation results show that different contributions from neighboring provinces varied from the accumulation of pollutants, wind direction, and pollution episodes. The regional transport characteristics of the pollutants have also been analyzed.

Bio: Dr. Kong is the Director of the Environmental Meteorology Center, Henan Bureau of Meteorology. He has been a weather forecaster in Henan Provincial Meteorological Center since1992. He received a B. S. degree in atmospheric science at Beijing Institute of Meteorology in 1992. After working 8 years as a forecaster, he continued his graduate program at the Nanjing Institute of Meteorology and received his M.S. degree in 2003. He was a visiting scholar during 2005-2006 at the Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences (CAMS), where he learned Global/Regional Assimilation Prediction System (GrAPES meso-scale model) developed by Chinese scientists. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2012 from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He joined the Hami Meteorological Administration (Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Northwest part in China) during 2012-2013 to provide technical support and returned to his weather center in 2013 to continue his career as a forecaster. He was twice awarded as an Excellent Forecaster in China Meteorological Administration in 2010 and 2011, and also awarded as Excellent Individuals of Prevention and Control of Atmospheric Pollution in Henan Province in 2016.