SHIPAIR

Although considerable progress has been made in regulating ship emissions and understanding their impacts, major challenges remain in accurately assessing and mitigating the effects of ship emissions on air quality (AQ). It is therefore necessary to improve our knowledge of shipping-related pollutants and their atmospheric fate in order to better mitigate their effects on air quality and human health in urban areas.

The interdisciplinary SHIPAIR project combines experimental approaches and numerical modelling to address three main scientific questions:

1. What are the new or poorly characterised compounds emitted by ships?

• Quantitatively and qualitatively characterise regulated pollutants (SO₂), as well as non-regulated pollutants such as NOₓ, BC, CO, CO₂ and PM₂.₅.

• Quantitatively and qualitatively characterise emissions of VOCs/SVOCs, metals and fine particles, in terms of particle number and chemical composition (particles smaller than 1 µm).

• Generate a comprehensive dataset on ship emissions in different French ports.

2. What is the atmospheric fate of ship emissions?

• Assess the contribution of SO₂ to new particle formation in port areas and cities.

• Quantitatively and qualitatively determine the potential of ship emissions to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA).

• Develop a more relevant modelling framework to assess their impact on air quality at the urban scale.

• Develop the first set of scenarios for future trends and support future legislation, based on new modelling methodologies and more detailed emission inventories.

3. What is the oxidative potential of ship emissions?

• Determine the intrinsic oxidative potential (OP) of shipping emissions.

• Assess the relationship between OP and the metals and oxidised organic compounds measured in particulate matter.

• Determine the contribution of shipping emissions to urban OP, compared with other sources, in port cities.

SHIPAIR is actively contributing to the development of a new observational database through an intensive field campaign in the ports of Dunkirk and Le Havre, and investigates the fate and impact of ship-related pollution through long-term measurements at an urban supersite in Marseille (Longchamp).

In addition, SHIPAIR is developing and implementing a new modelling framework. To ensure that the contribution of ship emissions is representative of different urban environments, three ports — Dunkirk, Marseille and Le Havre — are included in the modelling.

The project benefits from the operational expertise of the three partners responsible for air quality monitoring in these regions, enabling methodological improvements in the development of atmospheric emission inventories to be shared and consolidated.