You are here:
The North American Mercury Model Intercomparison Study (NAMMIS). Study Description and Model-to-Model Comparison
Citation:
BULLOCK, R., D. ATKINSON, T. BRAVERMAN, K. Civerolo, A. Dastoor, D. Davignon, J. Ku, K. Lohman, T. C. Meyer, R. J. Park, C. Seigneur, N. E. SELIN, G. Sistla, AND K. Vijayaraghavan. The North American Mercury Model Intercomparison Study (NAMMIS). Study Description and Model-to-Model Comparison. JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH. American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC, 113(D17310):1-17, (2008).
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory′s (NERL′s) Atmospheric Modeling Division (AMD) conducts research in support of EPA′s mission to protect human health and the environment. AMD′s research program is engaged in developing and evaluating predictive atmospheric models on all spatial and temporal scales for forecasting the Nation′s air quality and for assessing changes in air quality and air pollutant exposures, as affected by changes in ecosystem management and regulatory decisions. AMD is responsible for providing a sound scientific and technical basis for regulatory policies based on air quality models to improve ambient air quality. The models developed by AMD are being used by EPA, NOAA, and the air pollution community in understanding and forecasting not only the magnitude of the air pollution problem, but also in developing emission control policies and regulations for air quality improvements.
Description:
This manuscript provides a description of the North American Mercury Model Intercomparison Study (NAMMIS) and results obtained from that study. The NAMMIS was conducted by EPA/NERL and involved a number of public and private research organizations developing numerical models of atmospheric mercury. Currently, insufficient observational data exist with which to evaluate atmospheric mercury models in the same way that models of ozone, particulate matter, and acid/nutrient deposition have been evaluated. Previously, atmospheric mercury models have been subjected to intercomparison studies in Europe. With this work, mercury model intercomparison has been performed in North America with an improved method employing a more tightly constrained modeling procedure.
