The Model Intercomparison Study for Asia (MICS Asia|)

Within the MICS-Asia project, atmospheric dispersion modelers are comparing their model results.  Starting in 1998, the first 11 meetings were hosted at IIASA, which provided a neutral meeting ground for scientists working on a politically contested issue. After that the meetings were moved to China, while in 2018 IIASA hosted the the 20th anniversary meeting.  

MICS-Asia Phase I, from 1998 to 2002., focused on the understanding of the capabilities of regional models in predicting source-receptor relationships for sulfur deposition in East Asia.

After 2003, MICS-Asia Phase II expanded its focus on long-term simulations and source-receptor analysis, more chemical species (nitrogen, aerosols, ground-level ozone) and episodes that are of special interest for gaining insights into important conditions in Asia (e.g., yellow-sand and high ozone episodes).

This broader collaborative study, , examined four different periods, encompassing two different years and three different seasons (i.e., March, July, and December in 2001, and March in 2002). Nine different regional modeling groups simulated chemistry and transport of O3, precursors, sulfur dioxide, and secondary aerosols, using common emissions and boundary conditions derived from the global models of ozone and related tracers.

The ongoing phase, MICS-Asia Phase III, concentrates on three topics:

• Model Intercomparison
• Development of reliable emission inventories in Asia and
• Air Quality/Climate Change.

The first 11 meetings of the MICS-Asia project were hosted at IIASA, which provided a neutral meeting ground for scientists working on a politically contested issue.

After that the meetings were moved to China, as more and more of the modeling community came from Asia. To acknowledge the importance of IIASA as a breeding place for scientific cooperation, even in difficult geo-political situations, the 20^th anniversary meeting of MICS-Asia was hosted again at IIASA in 2018.

MICS-Asia Phase 1: Long-range transport and deposition of sulfur.

• 1st Workhop: July 27-29, 1998
• 2nd Workshop:
• 3rd Workshop: September 18-19, 2000
• 4th Workshop: October 22-23, 2001
• 5th Workshop: January 20-21, 2003

MICS-Asia Phase 2: Extension to sulfur, nitrogen, ozone and aerosols

• 6th Workshop, IIASA,February 9-10, 2004
• 7th Workshop: February 14-15, 2005
• 8th Workshop: January 18–19, 2006
• 9th Workshop: February 27-28, 2007
• 10th Workshop: February 18-19, 2008
• 11th Workshop: February 26-27, 2009•
• 4th HTAP/MICS, Beijing, China, May 22-23, 2014
  

Project partners

• Tsinghua University
• Peking University
• Energy Research Institute
• The Institute for Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Last edited: 21 June 2018