Plenary Lecture 3

The Kao-Ping (Kao-Hsiung City and Ping-Tung County) Experiment (KPEx) was conducted in southern Taiwan in the spring of 2024 as the downwind receptor of the 7-SEAS (Seven SouthEast Asian Studies) campaigns in the biomass burning seasons over the northern region of peninsular Southeast Asia. The 7-SEAS' main purpose is to perform interdisciplinary research in the field of transboundary biomass-burning pollution, aerosol-meteorology, and climate interaction in the Southeast Asian region. Participating countries include Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, and the USA. While, KPEx particularly focused on the air pollution in southern Taiwan where is the most polluted and industrialized area with a complex terrain and atmospheric circulations. The comprehensive data collection included a dense network of more than 80 air quality stations, 12 PAMS (continuous measurements of photochemical compounds), 4 lidars of NASA/MPLNET, 7 AERONET sites, more than 10,000 PM 2.5 microsensors, and one high-altitude background station at Mt. Lulin (2,862 m, similar instrumentation to MLO, Hawaii) maintained by the Ministry of Environment of Taiwan (MOENV). This data provided an important anchor for the distribution of surface ozone, fine particulate matter, precursors, and columnar/vertical profiling of aerosol properties. During the KPEx, ground-based NASA/COMMIT (Chemical, Optical & Microphysical Measurements of In-situ Troposphere) mobile laboratory and one Taiwanese COMMIT-like trailer were additionally deployed, as well as several fully-equipped mobiles from MOENV and local agencies. In line with the NASA/ASIA-AQ (Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality) four overflights of Taiwan on 15 and 28 February, and 15 and 27 March, KPEx specifically conducted four Intensive Observation Periods (IOPs), each for 48 hours,especially including the UAVs operated hourly at 3 sites for vertical canister and absorbing-tube VOCs sampling at multi layers and vertical profiling of aerosol and ozone, and intensive soundings launched every three hours at 4 sites. The aerosol chemistry, HAPs and POPs were also measured at specific surface stations. NASA’s DC-8 and GIII aircrafts overflew with the payload of 26 sets of high-precision equipment and airborne lidars/spectrometers. The ultimate goals of this study are (1)To characterize the three-dimensional local circulation, air pollutants, and terrain effect for researching the causes of air pollution in southern Taiwan and validating the model simulations and emission inventory; (2) To advance the understanding of the formation and distribution mechanisms of secondary pollutants, long-range transport of polluted air mass and aging process, improving air pollution modeling, to enhance the assessment capacity on air pollution control; (3) To enhance the capability of precaution of pollution transboundary transport by synergetic ground-based measurements, satellite observation and modeling.