The Regional Ecological Effects of Air Pollution

The primary function of ecosystems is to realize the exchange of mass and energy through photosynthesis. However, the current high concentrations of air pollution in China pose a serious threat to the function of ecosystems. Surface ozone can inhibit plant photosynthesis through the obsorption by leaf stomata, damaging ecosystem functions and leading to reduced crop yields. Atmospheric aerosols enhance the scattering of solar radiation, increasing the area of the canopy that receives sunlight and improving the light use efficiency. In addition, aerosols alter environmental factors such as temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture, causing multi-scale impacts on plant photosynthesis. This field of research primarily assesses the impacts of air pollution on ecosystem functions at the regional to global scale.

Interaction between the Atmospheric Environment and Climate System

The climate system affects atmospheric environment through physical processes such as emission (e.g., dust, wildfires, biogenic volatile organic compounds), transmission (e.g., vertical convection, horizontal transport), and deposition (e.g., dry deposition, wet deposition). Conversely, atmospheric components influence the climate system by modulating variables such as radiation, temperature, and precipitation. What role does the interaction between the atmospheric environment and climate system play in paleoclimates? What impact does it have on the interannual and decadal variations of the contemporary climate system? And what responses and feedbacks can be expected under the context of future climate change? This field of research focuses on the aforementioned scientific questions, employing numerical simulations to explore the causes of atmospheric environmental changes and their climate impacts.

Numerical Model Development and Multi-system Interactions

Numerical models are powerful tools for quantifying complex physical processes and predicting future climate changes. This field of research mainly includes the independent development of dynamic global vegetation models, the improvement of physical schemes for global fire emissions, dust emissions, and emissions of BVOC, and the construction of the fully coupled climate-vegetation-chemistry model system. We quantify the radiative and climatic effects of atmospheric components, study the interactions between atmospheric components and ecosystems, and project the responses of atmospheric environment and ecosystems under climate change by unravelling the complex multi-system interactions.