Accurate predictions of air quality and atmospheric dispersion at high spatial resolution rely on high fidelity predictions of mesoscale meteorological fields that govern transport and turbulence in urban areas. However, mesoscale meteorological models do not have the spatial resolution to directly simulate the fluid dynamics and thermodynamics in and around buildings and other urban structures that have been shown to modify micro- and mesoscale flow fields. Mesoscale models therefore have been adapted using numerous approaches to incorporate urban effects into the simulations. One approach is to introduce urban canopy parameterizations to approximate the drag, turbulence production, heating, and radiation attenuation induced by sub-grid scale buildings and urban surface covers.