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Continental-Scale Analysis of Atmospheric Deposition Over North America and Europe Using the AQMEII Database
Citation:
Hogrefe, C., S. Galmarini, E. Solazzo, R. Bianconi, P. Liu, AND R. Mathur. Continental-Scale Analysis of Atmospheric Deposition Over North America and Europe Using the AQMEII Database. 2018 International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modelling and its Application, Ottawa, CANADA, May 14 - 18, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
This study presents an analysis of modeled wet and dry deposition fields generated through the first three phases of the Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII). AQMEII is a collaboration between North American and European regional air quality modelers and is being co-chaired by EPA and the European Commission Joint Research Centre. As AQMEII is finishing its third phase in the coming months, planning has begun to initiate a fourth phase with a focus on atmospheric deposition. Analyzing deposition fields generated through the first three phases is expected to inform the AQMEII Phase 4 planning process by determining potential gaps in the existing data and identifying research priorities.
Description:
Participants in the Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII) have conducted three rounds of continental-scale model evaluation and intercomparison activities over Europe and North America since 2010. As part of these efforts that involved a total of 37 groups from 17 countries, a large dataset of modeled meteorology, air quality and deposition fields for 2006 and 2010 has been generated and is available to the community for ongoing research on model evaluation. Most of the extensive analysis of this dataset performed to date has focused on a fairly small subset of meteorological and air quality variables. In particular, there has been only a very limited analysis of the modeled dry and wet deposition fields and available wet deposition observations. However, sensitivity simulations performed by a small subset of models as part of the third Phase of AQMEII have highlighted the important impact of deposition on model performance, indicating that a deeper understanding of model-to-model differences in deposition would be a fruitful avenue for future AQMEII work. This study presents an analysis of modeled dry and wet deposition and precipitation fields generated during past phases of AQMEII, quantifying both model-to-model variability and the level of agreement with available wet deposition and precipitation measurements. Results indicate substantial model-to-model variability for all variables considered as well as seasonal variations in model performance. We then discuss how the findings from this analysis of existing data can inform future AQMEII work focused on deposition in terms of model and observational data needs and simulation design. Finally, we discuss potential uses of deposition results from an intercomparison study like AQMEII for applications such as the World Meteorological Organization’s project on Measurement-Model Fusion for Global Total Atmospheric Deposition (MMF-GTAD).
