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Evaluating the capability of regional-scale air quality models to capture the vertical distribution of pollutants
Citation:
Solazzo, E., R. Bianconi, G. Pirovano, M. Moran, R. Vautard, C. Hogrefe, W. Appel, V. Matthias, P. Grossi, B. Bessagnet, J. Brandt, C. Chemel, J. Christensen, R. Forkel, X. Francis, A. Hansen, S. McKeen, U. Nopmongcol, M. Prank, K. Sartelet, A. Segers, J. Silver, G. Yarwood, J. Werhahn, J. Zhang, S. Rao, AND S. Galmarini. Evaluating the capability of regional-scale air quality models to capture the vertical distribution of pollutants. Geoscientific Model Development . Copernicus Publications, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, 6(3):791-818, (2013).
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory′s (NERL′s)Atmospheric Modeling Division (AMAD) conducts research in support of EPA′s mission to protect human health and the environment. AMAD′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. AMAD 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 AMAD 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 study is conducted in the framework of the Air Quality Modelling Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII) and aims at the operational evaluation of an ensemble of 12 regional-scale chemical transport models used to predict air quality over the North American (NA) and European (EU) continents for 2006. The modelled concentrations of ozone and CO, along with the meteorological fields of wind speed (WS) and direction (WD), temperature (T ), and relative humidity (RH), are compared against high quality in-flight measurements collected by instrumented commercial aircraft as part of the Measurements of OZone, water vapour, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides by Airbus In-service airCraft (MOZAIC) programme. The evaluation is carried out for five model domains positioned around four major airports in NA (Portland, Philadelphia, Atlanta,and Dallas) and one in Europe (Frankfurt), from the surface to 8.5 km. We compare mean vertical profiles of modelled and measured variables for all airports to compute error and variability statistics, perform analysis of altitudinal error correlation, and examine the seasonal error distribution for ozone, including an estimation of the bias introduced by the lateral boundary conditions (BCs). The results indicate that model performance is highly dependent on the variable, location, season, and height (e.g. surface, planetary boundary layer (PBL) or free troposphere) being analysed.
URLs/Downloads:
SOLAZZO_ET_AL_GMD2012-114_REVIEW1_FINALFINAL.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 4618.503 KB, about PDF)Geoscientific Model Development
