MEGAN v3.2: How Should Ecotype Data Be Defined for Regional Applications?

MEGAN
, ,
1

Hello everyone,

I am currently trying to use MEGAN v3.2. I have mostly understood the general workflow and am now able to generate BVOC emissions for use in the CMAQ model.

However, I am still unclear about the Ecotype input data.

My study domain mainly covers East Asia, including Taiwan. In particular, when I examined the Ecotype information over Taiwan, I found that the tree species ID assigned in the Ecotype dataset is 5277.

I searched through the input files to identify what species ID 5277 represents, and found that it is listed as TEOWBtr5277. However, I am not sure what this vegetation/species code actually represents.

My questions are:

  1. What does the vegetation code TEOWBtr5277 represent? Is there a documentation or lookup table that explains these codes in more detail?
  2. For regional applications such as East Asia or Taiwan, is it necessary to modify or customize the Ecotype/species composition, or is it recommended to simply use the default Ecotype dataset provided by the MEGAN developers?
  3. If the default Ecotype data are used, how might an inappropriate or non-representative species composition affect the simulated BVOC emissions and subsequent air quality simulations?

I would especially appreciate hearing from researchers who are currently using MEGAN v3.2. How do you usually handle the Ecotype input when applying MEGAN to a specific region? Do you use the default Ecotype data directly, or do you customize the Ecotype/species composition based on regional vegetation information?

Any advice, references, or examples of how others have handled this issue would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you very much for your help!

image
image1486×141 9.15 KB

2

The ecotype inputs are created upstream from the EPA-implemented code. The development of these files is somewhat opaque to me. I recommend contacting Alex Guenther about this. Here is the developer’s website: UCI BAI - MEGAN