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IMPLEMENTATION OF AN URBAN CANOPY PARAMETERIZATION IN MM5 FOR MESO-GAMMA-SCALE AIR QUALITY MODELING APPLICATIONS
Citation:
Otte, T L. AND A. Lacser. IMPLEMENTATION OF AN URBAN CANOPY PARAMETERIZATION IN MM5 FOR MESO-GAMMA-SCALE AIR QUALITY MODELING APPLICATIONS. Presented at AMS Ninth Conference on Mesoscale Processes, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, July 30-August 2, 2001.
Impact/Purpose:
This task objective is the development and improvement of state-of-the-science meteorology models and contributing process parameterizations for use in advanced air quality simulation model systems such as the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system and for other modeling studies and situations involving transport and dispersion of pollutants. Components of this work include: (a) improved meteorological and transport modeling, (b) improved meteorological modeling physics, (c) physical modeling of flows- building wakes, complex terrain, urban canyons, (d) modeling of transport and dispersion of specialized situations and (e) develop AERMOD (AMS/EPA Regulatory MODel).
Description:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) is extending its Models-3/Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) Modeling System to provide detailed gridded air quality concentration fields and sub-grid variability characterization at neighborhood scales and in urban areas. CMAQ is an advanced air quality modeling system that embodies a "one-atmosphere," multiple-pollutant philosophy (Byun and Ching, 1999). There are three primary models within Models-3/CMAQ: meteorology, emissions, and chemistry. The meteorology model used with CMAQ in this application is the Pennsylvania State University/National Center for Atmospheric Research (PSU/NCAR) Mesoscale Model (MM5; Grell et al. 1994). For fine-scale urban simulations (~1-km grid spacing), MM5 has been modified to include an urban canopy parameterization that accounts for drag exerted by the urban structures, the enhancement of turbulent kinetic energy (especially near the top of the buildings), and the energy budget at the street and roof levels. This refinement of MM5 is targeted to provide CMAQ with the means to capture the details of pollutant spatial distributions at these scales.
One of the goals of this research is to demonstrate the capability of MM5 to simulate the effects of urban areas at the meso-gamma scale. This paper describes the suggested modifications to MM5 and presents preliminary results of using the urban canopy parameterization.
The information in this manuscript has been funded by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. It has been subjected to Agency review and approved for publication. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.