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2002 Haagen-Smit Award Winners

The committee for the selection of the Haagen-Smit Award, given annually to two outstanding papers published in Atmospheric Environment (AE), has considered all nominations and made their final determination. We are very pleased to announce that the winners of the AE 2002 Haagen-Smit Award are:

N. Kato and H. Akimoto, Anthropogenic Emissions of SO2 and NOX in Asia: Emission Inventories, Atmospheric Environment, 26A, 2997-3017, 1992.

Y. Yokouchi and Y. Ambe, Aerosols Formed from the Chemical Reaction of Monoterpenes and Ozone, Atmospheric Environment, 19, 1271-1276, 1985.

With this announcement we would like to congratulate the authors and the nominators of these selected papers. These are indeed contributions that we can all be proud of. We would also very much like to thank all the other nominators for their effort and note that unsuccessful nominations are eligible for consideration again next year.

We further take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of the selection committee, made up of members from six countries, in arriving at a clear and timely decision.

Sincerely,

Hanwant B. Singh and Peter Brimblecombe
Executive Editors of Atmospheric Environment

Jacques Kiebert
Senior Publishing Editor, Elsevier Science Limited


Nomination Letters*

Y. AkimotoN. Kato and H. Akimoto, Anthropogenic Emissions of SO2 and NOX in Asia: Emission Inventories, Atmospheric Environment, 26A, 2997-3017, 1992.

Environmental changes as a result of rapid economic and population growth in Asia have received much scientific attention in the last two decades. It was in the late 1980's, when it became evident that total Asian emissions were getting comparable to Europe and North America and were increasing at a much faster rate. It was anticipated that this situation would bring about intensified regional pollution in Asia and would have global consequences. To study these concerns, models specific to the Asian region were developed and many field campaigns carried out to acquire the necessary observational data.

A critical requirement of regional and global models of air quality is an accurate knowledge of pollutant emissions. The study of Kato and Akimoto (1992) filled a critical need by developing the first quantitative emissions database for the Asian region. Prior to Kato and Akimoto (1992), no reliable country-based Asia-wide emission inventory of SO2 and NOX, two key atmospheric pollutants, was available in the scientific literature. Asia is characterized by its heterogeneity of fuel type and sulfur content in fuels, particularly in coal. Kato and Akimoto first incorporated emissions from biofuels, the major fuel type in several developing countries in Asia, as well as fossil fuels. The sulfur content in coal was scrutinized for each country and provinces in China and India. These results offered a quantum improvement over previous estimates of Asian emissions, which were largely based on extension of experiences in Europe and US. Recently Streets et al. (Atmospheric Environment, 34, 4413-4424, 2000; Water Air and Soil Pollution, 130, 187-192, 2001) have verified the reliability of the study of Kato and Akimoto (1992). Chinese scientists have since applied the same methodology to estimate their own emissions in China. This has narrowed a large gap between the "official" data of SO2 emission in China publicized by the Chinese government and the quantitative results provided by Kato and Akimoto (1992).

A follow up paper by Akimoto and Narita (Atmospheric Environment, 28, 213-225, 1994.) offered one-degree by one-degree grid-base emission inventories of SO2 and NOX between 1975 to 1987 based on the country-based data reported by Kato and Akimoto (1992). A grid-based data is essential for modelers of atmospheric chemistry. Since the paper was the first one of this kind covering most of Asia, the data were incorporated into a global emission database of GEIA/IGAC, and have been widely used in the atmospheric chemistry community both in regional and global modeling of acid deposition and ozone photochemistry.

The Kato and Akimoto (1992) and its derivative Akimoto and Narita (1994) papers have been cited more than 150 times. These pioneering studies have greatly influenced subsequent scientific research evident in dozens of publications. They have led the way towards an accurate picture of the distribution of acids and oxidants in Asia, and the trans-boundary air pollution in East Asia.

Dr. Akimoto and his group have a consistent record of outstanding scientific research with many of their publications appearing in Atmospheric Environment. They are highly regarded for their innovative and extensive scientific contributions to studies of air pollution and atmospheric chemistry. Their pioneering efforts have brought credit to the journal, and I believe the Kato and Akimoto (1992) paper is a highly worthy recipient of the 2002 Haagen-Smit award.

Nominator: Dr. Hanwant B. Singh, NASA Ames Research Center, California, USA


Y. YokouchiY. Yokouchi and Y. Ambe, Aerosols Formed from the Chemical Reaction of Monoterpenes and Ozone, Atmospheric Environment, 19, 1271-1276, 1985.

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs), of which monoterpenes and isoprene are a major part, are now known to play an important role in the chemistry of the troposphere as precursors of photochemical ozone production and aerosol formation, both of which are of considerable significance for the study of photochemical air pollution and climate change. The aerosol forming potential of monoterpenes had been recognized as early as 1960 by Dr. Went. However, very little had been known about their reaction products by early 1980s.

Using novel analytical techniques, Drs. Yokouchi and Ambe investigated ozone reaction products of selected monoterpenes, and identified pinonaldehyde (cis-3-acetyl-2,2-dimethyl-cyclobutyl-ethanal) and nopinene (6,6-dimethyl-bicyclo[3.1.1] heptan-2-one) as the major products of the reaction of alpha-pinene and beta-pinene, respectively. Furthermore, they detected a considerable amount of pinonaldehyde in the aerosols collected in forested fields, demonstrating clearly that BVOCs could be responsible for the production of secondary organic aerosols from forest emissions.

This paper by Drs. Yokouchi and Ambe has been cited more than 76 times by now. It has also inspired many more extensive studies of the reaction mechanisms and secondary products of BVOCs oxidation. Subsequent papers published by this group in Atmospheric Environment (e. g. "Seasonal and diurnal variation of isoprene and its reaction products in a semi-rural area", 28, 2651-2658, 1994) and other journals have further elaborated on the role of atmospheric BVOCs in ozone and organic aerosol formation. They are considered as pioneering studies of BVOCs, very important for understanding the effects of emissions from forests and other vegetation on photochemical and other air pollution problems. For these reasons, I am glad to nominate the 1985 paper by Drs. Yokouchi and Y. Ambe for the Haagen-Smit Award and feel that it is a highly worthy candidate.

Nominator: Prof. Toshiichi Okita


*-pictures of Dr. Akimoto and Dr. Yokouchi are shown