Articles | Volume 14, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-7189-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-7189-2021
Model evaluation paper
 | 
26 Nov 2021
Model evaluation paper |  | 26 Nov 2021

A comparative study of two-way and offline coupled WRF v3.4 and CMAQ v5.0.2 over the contiguous US: performance evaluation and impacts of chemistry–meteorology feedbacks on air quality

Kai Wang, Yang Zhang, Shaocai Yu, David C. Wong, Jonathan Pleim, Rohit Mathur, James T. Kelly, and Michelle Bell

Related authors

Updates and evaluation of NOAA’s online-coupled air quality model version 7 (AQMv7) within the Unified Forecast System
Wei Li, Beiming Tang, Patrick C. Campbell, Youhua Tang, Barry Baker, Zachary Moon, Daniel Tong, Jianping Huang, Kai Wang, Ivanka Stajner, Raffaele Montuoro, and Robert C. Gilliam
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-107,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-107, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for GMD
Short summary
Impacts of compound extreme weather events on ozone in the present and future
Junxi Zhang, Yang Gao, Kun Luo, L. Ruby Leung, Yang Zhang, Kai Wang, and Jianren Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9861–9877, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9861-2018,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9861-2018, 2018
Short summary
Modeling regional air quality and climate: improving organic aerosol and aerosol activation processes in WRF/Chem version 3.7.1
Khairunnisa Yahya, Timothy Glotfelty, Kai Wang, Yang Zhang, and Athanasios Nenes
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 2333–2363, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2333-2017,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2333-2017, 2017
Decadal evaluation of regional climate, air quality, and their interactions over the continental US and their interactions using WRF/Chem version 3.6.1
Khairunnisa Yahya, Kai Wang, Patrick Campbell, Timothy Glotfelty, Jian He, and Yang Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 671–695, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-671-2016,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-671-2016, 2016
Short summary
Application of WRF/Chem over North America under the AQMEII Phase 2 – Part 2: Evaluation of 2010 application and responses of air quality and meteorology–chemistry interactions to changes in emissions and meteorology from 2006 to 2010
K. Yahya, K. Wang, Y. Zhang, and T. E. Kleindienst
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 2095–2117, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2095-2015,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2095-2015, 2015
Short summary

Related subject area

Atmospheric sciences
An enhanced emission module for the PALM model system 23.10 with application for PM10 emission from urban domestic heating
Edward C. Chan, Ilona J. Jäkel, Basit Khan, Martijn Schaap, Timothy M. Butler, Renate Forkel, and Sabine Banzhaf
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1119–1139, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1119-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1119-2025, 2025
Short summary
Identifying lightning processes in ERA5 soundings with deep learning
Gregor Ehrensperger, Thorsten Simon, Georg J. Mayr, and Tobias Hell
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1141–1153, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1141-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1141-2025, 2025
Short summary
Sensitivity of predicted ultrafine particle size distributions in Europe to different nucleation rate parameterizations using PMCAMx-UF v2.2
David Patoulias, Kalliopi Florou, and Spyros N. Pandis
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1103–1118, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1103-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1103-2025, 2025
Short summary
Explaining neural networks for detection of tropical cyclones and atmospheric rivers in gridded atmospheric simulation data
Tim Radke, Susanne Fuchs, Christian Wilms, Iuliia Polkova, and Marc Rautenhaus
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1017–1039, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1017-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1017-2025, 2025
Short summary
Accurate space-based NOx emission estimates with the flux divergence approach require fine-scale model information on local oxidation chemistry and profile shapes
Felipe Cifuentes, Henk Eskes, Enrico Dammers, Charlotte Bryan, and Folkert Boersma
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 621–649, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-621-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-621-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Abdul-Razzak, H. and Ghan, S. J.: A parameterization of aerosol activation 2. Multiple aerosol types, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 6837–6844, 2000. 
Alapaty, K., Herwehe, J. A., Otte, T. L., Nolte, C. G., Bullock, O. R., Mallard, M. S., Kain, J. S., and Dudhia, J.: Introducing subgrid-scale cloud feedbacks to radiation for regional meteorological and climate modeling, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L24809, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL054031, 2012. 
Allen, D. J., Pickering, K. E., Pinder, R. W., Henderson, B. H., Appel, K. W., and Prados, A.: Impact of lightning-NO on eastern United States photochemistry during the summer of 2006 as determined using the CMAQ model, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 1737–1758, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-1737-2012, 2012. 
Appel, K. W., Gilliland, A. B., Sarwar, G., and Gilliam, R. C.: Evaluation of the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model version 4.5: Sensitivities impacting model performance: Part I, Ozone, Atmos. Environ., 41, 9603–9615, 2007. 
Appel, K. W., Pouliot, G. A., Simon, H., Sarwar, G., Pye, H. O. T., Napelenok, S. L., Akhtar, F., and Roselle, S. J.: Evaluation of dust and trace metal estimates from the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model version 5.0, Geosci. Model Dev., 6, 883–899, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-883-2013, 2013. 
Download
Short summary
The two-way coupled WRF-CMAQ model accounting for complex chemistry–meteorology feedbacks has been applied to the long-term predictions of regional meteorology and air quality over the US. The model results show superior performance and importance of chemistry–meteorology feedbacks when compared to the offline coupled WRF and CMAQ simulations, which suggests that feedbacks should be considered along with other factors in developing future model applications to inform policy making.
Share