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Diagnostic Analysis of the Three-Dimensional Sulfur Distributions over the Eastern United States Using the CMAQ Model and Measurements from the ICARTT Field Experiment
Citation:
MATHUR, R., S. J. ROSELLE, G. POULIOT, AND G. SARWAR. Diagnostic Analysis of the Three-Dimensional Sulfur Distributions over the Eastern United States Using the CMAQ Model and Measurements from the ICARTT Field Experiment. Chapter 5, Air Pollution Modeling and its Application XIX. Springer, New York, NY, , 496-504, (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:
Previous comparisons of air quality modeling results from various forecast models with aircraft measurements of sulfate aerosol collected during the ICARTT field experiment indicated that models that included detailed treatment of gas- and aqueous-phase atmospheric sulfate formation, tended to overestimate airborne SO4 2- levels. To understand the three-dimensional distributions and fate of atmospheric SO4 2- and to diagnose the possible reasons for these over-predictions, we perform detailed analysis of modeled SO4 2- budgets over the eastern U.S. during the summer of 2004 using an instrumented version of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ), namely the sulfur -tracking model. Two sets of three-dimensional model calculations are performed using different gas-phase chemical mechanisms: (1) the widely used CBM4, and (2) the SAPRC mechanism.