Articles | Volume 17, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5023-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-5023-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Model description paper
| 
27 Jun 2024
Model description paper |
| 27 Jun 2024
| 27 Jun 2024
WRF-Comfort: simulating microscale variability in outdoor heat stress at the city scale with a mesoscale model
Alberto Martilli
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Atmospheric Modelling Unit, Environmental Department, CIEMAT, Madrid 28040, Spain
Negin Nazarian
School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, Sydney, Australia
E. Scott Krayenhoff
School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
Jacob Lachapelle
School of Environmental Sciences, University of Guelph, Guelph, Canada
Jiachen Lu
School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, Sydney, Australia
Esther Rivas
Atmospheric Modelling Unit, Environmental Department, CIEMAT, Madrid 28040, Spain
Alejandro Rodriguez-Sanchez
Atmospheric Modelling Unit, Environmental Department, CIEMAT, Madrid 28040, Spain
Beatriz Sanchez
Atmospheric Modelling Unit, Environmental Department, CIEMAT, Madrid 28040, Spain
José Luis Santiago
Atmospheric Modelling Unit, Environmental Department, CIEMAT, Madrid 28040, Spain
Related authors
Gianluca Pappaccogli, Andrea Zonato, Alberto Martilli, Riccardo Buccolieri, and Piero Lionello
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-219, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-219, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
Short summary
Short summary
We present the MLUCM BEP+BEM model that bridges mesoscale and microscale phenomena within the urban canopy, capturing scale interactions and feedback. The accuracy and low computational cost of this one-dimensional model makes it ideal for offline climate projections to assess urban climate impacts under different emission scenarios. The model's features allow analyzing urban overheating, energy demands, and evaluating the efficiency of strategies like green/cool roofs, and photovoltaic panels.
Jiachen Lu, Negin Nazarian, Melissa Anne Hart, E. Scott Krayenhoff, and Alberto Martilli
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2525–2545, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2525-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2525-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study enhances urban canopy models by refining key assumptions. Simulations for various urban scenarios indicate discrepancies in turbulent transport efficiency for flow properties. We propose two modifications that involve characterizing diffusion coefficients for momentum and turbulent kinetic energy separately and introducing a physics-based
mass-fluxterm. These adjustments enhance the model's performance, offering more reliable temperature and surface flux estimates.
Matthias Demuzere, Jonas Kittner, Alberto Martilli, Gerald Mills, Christian Moede, Iain D. Stewart, Jasper van Vliet, and Benjamin Bechtel
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3835–3873, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3835-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3835-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Because urban areas are key contributors to climate change but are also susceptible to multiple hazards, one needs spatially detailed information on urban landscapes to support environmental services. This global local climate zone map describes this much-needed intra-urban heterogeneity across the whole surface of the earth in a universal language and can serve as a basic infrastructure to study e.g. environmental hazards, energy demand, and climate adaptation and mitigation solutions.
Negin Nazarian, E. Scott Krayenhoff, and Alberto Martilli
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 937–953, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-937-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-937-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We present an update to the Multi-Layer Urban Canopy Model by revisiting the parameterization of length scales based on high-resolution and validated large-eddy simulations. Additionally, the inclusion of dispersive fluxes in the parameterization schemes are also discussed. The results demonstrate that updated parameterizations improve the accuracy of the vertical exchange of momentum in the street canyon.
Beatriz Sanchez, Jose-Luis Santiago, Alberto Martilli, Magdalena Palacios, and Frank Kirchner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 12143–12157, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12143-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12143-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
This paper is focused on analyzing the coupled behavior between dispersion of reactive pollutants and atmospheric dynamics in different atmospheric conditions using a computational fluid dynamics model. It allows one to provide the selection of the chemical reactions needed that gives the best compromise between accuracy in modeling NO and NO2 dispersion in the streets and the computational time required. The conclusions can be applied to future studies about modeling air quality in cities.
Gianluca Pappaccogli, Andrea Zonato, Alberto Martilli, Riccardo Buccolieri, and Piero Lionello
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-219, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-219, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Geoscientific Model Development (GMD).
Short summary
Short summary
We present the MLUCM BEP+BEM model that bridges mesoscale and microscale phenomena within the urban canopy, capturing scale interactions and feedback. The accuracy and low computational cost of this one-dimensional model makes it ideal for offline climate projections to assess urban climate impacts under different emission scenarios. The model's features allow analyzing urban overheating, energy demands, and evaluating the efficiency of strategies like green/cool roofs, and photovoltaic panels.
Jiachen Lu, Negin Nazarian, Melissa Anne Hart, E. Scott Krayenhoff, and Alberto Martilli
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2525–2545, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2525-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2525-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study enhances urban canopy models by refining key assumptions. Simulations for various urban scenarios indicate discrepancies in turbulent transport efficiency for flow properties. We propose two modifications that involve characterizing diffusion coefficients for momentum and turbulent kinetic energy separately and introducing a physics-based
mass-fluxterm. These adjustments enhance the model's performance, offering more reliable temperature and surface flux estimates.
Matthias Demuzere, Jonas Kittner, Alberto Martilli, Gerald Mills, Christian Moede, Iain D. Stewart, Jasper van Vliet, and Benjamin Bechtel
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 3835–3873, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3835-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-3835-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Because urban areas are key contributors to climate change but are also susceptible to multiple hazards, one needs spatially detailed information on urban landscapes to support environmental services. This global local climate zone map describes this much-needed intra-urban heterogeneity across the whole surface of the earth in a universal language and can serve as a basic infrastructure to study e.g. environmental hazards, energy demand, and climate adaptation and mitigation solutions.
Mohsen Moradi, Benjamin Dyer, Amir Nazem, Manoj K. Nambiar, M. Rafsan Nahian, Bruno Bueno, Chris Mackey, Saeran Vasanthakumar, Negin Nazarian, E. Scott Krayenhoff, Leslie K. Norford, and Amir A. Aliabadi
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 961–984, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-961-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-961-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The Vertical City Weather Generator (VCWG) is an urban microclimate model developed to predict temporal and vertical variation of potential temperature, wind speed, and specific humidity. VCWG is forced by climate variables at a nearby rural site and coupled to radiation and building energy models. VCWG is evaluated against field observations of the BUBBLE campaign. It is run under exploration mode to assess its performance given urban characteristics, seasonal variations, and climate zones.
Brian N. Bailey, María A. Ponce de León, and E. Scott Krayenhoff
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 4789–4808, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4789-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4789-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Numerous models of plant radiation interception based on a range of assumptions are available in the literature, but the importance of each assumption is not well understood. In this work, we evaluate several assumptions common in simple models of radiation interception in canopies with widely spaced plants by comparing against a detailed 3-D model. This yielded a simple model based on readily measurable parameters that could accurately predict interception for a wide range of architectures.
Gianluca Mussetti, Dominik Brunner, Stephan Henne, Jonas Allegrini, E. Scott Krayenhoff, Sebastian Schubert, Christian Feigenwinter, Roland Vogt, Andreas Wicki, and Jan Carmeliet
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 1685–1710, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1685-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1685-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Street trees are regarded as a powerful measure to reduce excessive heat in cities. To enable city-wide studies of the cooling effect of street trees, we developed a coupled urban climate model with explicit representation of street trees (COSMO-BEP-Tree). The model compares well with surface, flux and satellite observations and responds realistically to changes in tree characteristics. Street trees largely impact energy fluxes and wind speed, while air temperatures are only slightly reduced.
Negin Nazarian, E. Scott Krayenhoff, and Alberto Martilli
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 937–953, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-937-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-937-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We present an update to the Multi-Layer Urban Canopy Model by revisiting the parameterization of length scales based on high-resolution and validated large-eddy simulations. Additionally, the inclusion of dispersive fluxes in the parameterization schemes are also discussed. The results demonstrate that updated parameterizations improve the accuracy of the vertical exchange of momentum in the street canyon.
Ashley M. Broadbent, Andrew M. Coutts, Kerry A. Nice, Matthias Demuzere, E. Scott Krayenhoff, Nigel J. Tapper, and Hendrik Wouters
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 785–803, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-785-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-785-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
We present a simple model for assessing the cooling impacts of vegetation and water features (green and blue infrastructure) in urban environments. This model is designed to be computationally efficient so that those without technical knowledge or access to high-performance computers can use it. TARGET can be used to model average street-level air temperature at canyon to block scales (e.g. 100 m resolution). The model is carefully designed to provide reliable and accurate cooling estimates.
Beatriz Sanchez, Jose-Luis Santiago, Alberto Martilli, Magdalena Palacios, and Frank Kirchner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 12143–12157, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12143-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12143-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
This paper is focused on analyzing the coupled behavior between dispersion of reactive pollutants and atmospheric dynamics in different atmospheric conditions using a computational fluid dynamics model. It allows one to provide the selection of the chemical reactions needed that gives the best compromise between accuracy in modeling NO and NO2 dispersion in the streets and the computational time required. The conclusions can be applied to future studies about modeling air quality in cities.
Related subject area
Atmospheric sciences
A Bayesian method for predicting background radiation at environmental monitoring stations in local-scale networks
Inclusion of the ECMWF ecRad radiation scheme (v1.5.0) in the MAR (v3.14), regional evaluation for Belgium, and assessment of surface shortwave spectral fluxes at Uccle
Development of a fast radiative transfer model for ground-based microwave radiometers (ARMS-gb v1.0): validation and comparison to RTTOV-gb
Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) High-Resolution Global Forecast Model version 1: an attempt to resolve monsoon prediction deadlock
Cell-tracking-based framework for assessing nowcasting model skill in reproducing growth and decay of convective rainfall
NeuralMie (v1.0): an aerosol optics emulator
Simulation performance of planetary boundary layer schemes in WRF v4.3.1 for near-surface wind over the western Sichuan Basin: a single-site assessment
FootNet v1.0: development of a machine learning emulator of atmospheric transport
Updates and evaluation of NOAA's online-coupled air quality model version 7 (AQMv7) within the Unified Forecast System
Quantifying the analysis uncertainty for nowcasting application
Improving the ensemble square root filter (EnSRF) in the Community Inversion Framework: a case study with ICON-ART 2024.01
The MESSy DWARF (based on MESSy v2.55.2)
An enhanced emission module for the PALM model system 23.10 with application for PM10 emission from urban domestic heating
Identifying lightning processes in ERA5 soundings with deep learning
Sensitivity of predicted ultrafine particle size distributions in Europe to different nucleation rate parameterizations using PMCAMx-UF v2.2
Explaining neural networks for detection of tropical cyclones and atmospheric rivers in gridded atmospheric simulation data
Accurate space-based NOx emission estimates with the flux divergence approach require fine-scale model information on local oxidation chemistry and profile shapes
Exploring a high-level programming model for the NWP domain using ECMWF microphysics schemes
Quantifying uncertainties in satellite NO2 superobservations for data assimilation and model evaluation
ML-AMPSIT: Machine Learning-based Automated Multi-method Parameter Sensitivity and Importance analysis Tool
Coupling the urban canopy model TEB (SURFEXv9.0) with the radiation model SPARTACUS-Urbanv0.6.1 for more realistic urban radiative exchange calculation
Forecasting contrail climate forcing for flight planning and air traffic management applications: the CocipGrid model in pycontrails 0.51.0
Simulation of the heat mitigation potential of unsealing measures in cities by parameterizing grass grid pavers for urban microclimate modelling with ENVI-met (V5)
AI-NAOS: an AI-based nonspherical aerosol optical scheme for the chemical weather model GRAPES_Meso5.1/CUACE
Orbital-Radar v1.0.0: a tool to transform suborbital radar observations to synthetic EarthCARE cloud radar data
The Modular and Integrated Data Assimilation System at Environment and Climate Change Canada (MIDAS v3.9.1)
Modeling of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from global to regional scales: model development (IAP-AACM_PAH v1.0) and investigation of health risks in 2013 and 2018 in China
LIMA (v2.0): A full two-moment cloud microphysical scheme for the mesoscale non-hydrostatic model Meso-NH v5-6
SLUCM+BEM (v1.0): a simple parameterisation for dynamic anthropogenic heat and electricity consumption in WRF-Urban (v4.3.2)
NAQPMS-PDAF v2.0: a novel hybrid nonlinear data assimilation system for improved simulation of PM2.5 chemical components
Source-specific bias correction of US background and anthropogenic ozone modeled in CMAQ
Observational operator for fair model evaluation with ground NO2 measurements
Valid time shifting ensemble Kalman filter (VTS-EnKF) for dust storm forecasting
The third Met Office Unified Model-JULES Regional Atmosphere and Land Configuration, RAL3
An updated parameterization of the unstable atmospheric surface layer in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) modeling system
The impact of cloud microphysics and ice nucleation on Southern Ocean clouds assessed with single-column modeling and instrument simulators
An updated aerosol simulation in the Community Earth System Model (v2.1.3): dust and marine aerosol emissions and secondary organic aerosol formation
Exploring ship track spreading rates with a physics-informed Langevin particle parameterization
Do data-driven models beat numerical models in forecasting weather extremes? A comparison of IFS HRES, Pangu-Weather, and GraphCast
Development of the MPAS-CMAQ coupled system (V1.0) for multiscale global air quality modeling
UA-ICON with NWP physics package (version: ua-icon-2.1): mean state and variability of the middle atmosphere
Assessment of object-based indices to identify convective organization
Diagnosis of winter precipitation types using Spectral Bin Model (SBM): Comparison of five methods using ICE-POP 2018 field experiment data
The Global Forest Fire Emissions Prediction System version 1.0
Sensitivity Studies of Four‐Dimensional Local Ensemble Transform Kalman Filter Coupled With WRF-Chem Version 3.9.1 for Improving Particulate Matter Simulation Accuracy
NEIVAv1.0: Next-generation Emissions InVentory expansion of Akagi et al. (2011) version 1.0
A Novel Method for Quantifying the Contribution of Regional Transport to PM2.5 in Beijing (2013–2020): Combining Machine Learning with Concentration-Weighted Trajectory Analysis
FLEXPART version 11: improved accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility
Low-level jets in the North and Baltic Seas: Mesoscale Model Sensitivity and Climatology
Challenges of high-fidelity air quality modeling in urban environments – PALM sensitivity study during stable conditions
Jens Peter Karolus Wenceslaus Frankemölle, Johan Camps, Pieter De Meutter, and Johan Meyers
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1989–2003, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1989-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1989-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
To detect anomalous radioactivity in the environment, it is paramount that we understand the natural background level. In this work, we propose a statistical model to describe the most likely background level and the associated uncertainty in a network of dose rate detectors. We train, verify, and validate the model using real environmental data. Using the model, we show that we can correctly predict the background level in a subset of the detector network during a known
anomalous event.
Jean-François Grailet, Robin J. Hogan, Nicolas Ghilain, David Bolsée, Xavier Fettweis, and Marilaure Grégoire
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1965–1988, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1965-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1965-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The MAR (Modèle Régional Atmosphérique) is a regional climate model used for weather forecasting and studying the climate over various regions. This paper presents an update of MAR thanks to which it can precisely decompose solar radiation, in particular in the UV (ultraviolet) and photosynthesis ranges, both being critical to human health and ecosystems. As a first application of this new capability, this paper presents a method for predicting UV indices with MAR.
Yi-Ning Shi, Jun Yang, Wei Han, Lujie Han, Jiajia Mao, Wanlin Kan, and Fuzhong Weng
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1947–1964, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1947-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1947-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Direct assimilation of observations from ground-based microwave radiometers (GMRs) holds significant potential for improving forecast accuracy. Radiative transfer models (RTMs) play a crucial role in direct data assimilation. In this study, we introduce a new RTM, the Advanced Radiative Transfer Modeling System – Ground-Based (ARMS-gb), designed to simulate brightness temperatures observed by GMRs along with their Jacobians. Several enhancements have been incorporated to achieve higher accuracy.
R. Phani Murali Krishna, Siddharth Kumar, A. Gopinathan Prajeesh, Peter Bechtold, Nils Wedi, Kumar Roy, Malay Ganai, B. Revanth Reddy, Snehlata Tirkey, Tanmoy Goswami, Radhika Kanase, Sahadat Sarkar, Medha Deshpande, and Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1879–1894, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1879-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1879-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The High-Resolution Global Forecast Model (HGFM) is an advanced iteration of the operational Global Forecast System (GFS) model. HGFM can produce forecasts at a spatial scale of ~6 km in tropics. It demonstrates improved accuracy in short- to medium-range weather prediction over the Indian region, with notable success in predicting extreme events. Further, the model will be entrusted to operational forecasting agencies after validation and testing.
Jenna Ritvanen, Seppo Pulkkinen, Dmitri Moisseev, and Daniele Nerini
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1851–1878, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1851-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1851-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Nowcasting models struggle with the rapid evolution of heavy rain, and common verification methods are unable to describe how accurately the models predict the growth and decay of heavy rain. We propose a framework to assess model performance. In the framework, convective cells are identified and tracked in the forecasts and observations, and the model skill is then evaluated by comparing differences between forecast and observed cells. We demonstrate the framework with four open-source models.
Andrew Geiss and Po-Lun Ma
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1809–1827, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1809-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1809-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Particles in the Earth's atmosphere strongly impact the planet's energy budget, and atmosphere simulations require accurate representation of their interaction with light. This work introduces two approaches to represent light scattering by small particles. The first is a scattering simulator based on Mie theory implemented in Python. The second is a neural network emulator that is more accurate than existing methods and is fast enough to be used in climate and weather simulations.
Qin Wang, Bo Zeng, Gong Chen, and Yaoting Li
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1769–1784, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1769-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1769-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study evaluates the performance of four planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes in near-surface wind fields over the Sichuan Basin, China. Using 112 sensitivity experiments with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model and focusing on 28 wind events, it is found that wind direction was less sensitive to the PBL schemes. The quasi-normal scale elimination (QNSE) scheme captured temporal variations best, while the Mellor–Yamada–Janjić (MYJ) scheme had the least error in wind speed.
Tai-Long He, Nikhil Dadheech, Tammy M. Thompson, and Alexander J. Turner
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1661–1671, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1661-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1661-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
It is computationally expensive to infer greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using atmospheric observations. This is partly due to the detailed model used to represent atmospheric transport. We demonstrate how a machine learning (ML) model can be used to simulate high-resolution atmospheric transport. This type of ML model will help estimate GHG emissions using dense observations, which are becoming increasingly common with the proliferation of urban monitoring networks and geostationary satellites.
Wei Li, Beiming Tang, Patrick C. Campbell, Youhua Tang, Barry Baker, Zachary Moon, Daniel Tong, Jianping Huang, Kai Wang, Ivanka Stajner, and Raffaele Montuoro
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1635–1660, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1635-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1635-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The study describes the updates of NOAA's current UFS-AQMv7 air quality forecast model by incorporating the latest scientific and structural changes in CMAQv5.4. An evaluation during the summer of 2023 shows that the updated model overall improves the simulation of MDA8 O3 by reducing the bias by 8%–12% in the contiguous US. PM2.5 predictions have mixed results due to wildfire, highlighting the need for future refinements.
Yanwei Zhu, Aitor Atencia, Markus Dabernig, and Yong Wang
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1545–1559, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1545-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1545-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Most works have delved into convective weather nowcasting, and only a few works have discussed the nowcasting uncertainty for variables at the surface level. Hence, we proposed a method to estimate uncertainty. Generating appropriate noises associated with the characteristic of the error in analysis can simulate the uncertainty of nowcasting. This method can contribute to the estimation of near–surface analysis uncertainty in both nowcasting applications and ensemble nowcasting development.
Joël Thanwerdas, Antoine Berchet, Lionel Constantin, Aki Tsuruta, Michael Steiner, Friedemann Reum, Stephan Henne, and Dominik Brunner
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1505–1544, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1505-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1505-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Community Inversion Framework (CIF) brings together methods for estimating greenhouse gas fluxes from atmospheric observations. The initial ensemble method implemented in CIF was found to be incomplete and could hardly be compared to other ensemble methods employed in the inversion community. In this paper, we present and evaluate a new implementation of the ensemble mode, building upon the initial developments.
Astrid Kerkweg, Timo Kirfel, Duong H. Do, Sabine Griessbach, Patrick Jöckel, and Domenico Taraborrelli
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1265–1286, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1265-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1265-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Normally, the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) is linked to complete dynamic models to create chemical climate models. However, the modular concept of MESSy and the newly developed DWARF component presented here make it possible to create simplified models that contain only one or a few process descriptions. This is very useful for technical optimisation, such as porting to GPUs, and can be used to create less complex models, such as a chemical box model.
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
Short summary
An enhanced emission module has been developed for the PALM model system, improving flexibility and scalability of emission source representation across different sectors. A model for parametrized domestic emissions has also been included, for which an idealized model run is conducted for particulate matter (PM10). The results show that, in addition to individual sources and diurnal variations in energy consumption, vertical transport and urban topology play a role in concentration distribution.
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
Short summary
As lightning is a brief and localized event, it is not explicitly resolved in atmospheric models. Instead, expert-based auxiliary descriptions are used to assess it. This study explores how AI can improve our understanding of lightning without relying on traditional expert knowledge. We reveal that AI independently identified the key factors known to experts as essential for lightning in the Alps region. This shows how knowledge discovery could be sped up in areas with limited expert knowledge.
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
Short summary
The effect of the assumed atmospheric nucleation mechanism on particle number concentrations and size distribution was investigated. Two quite different mechanisms involving sulfuric acid and ammonia or a biogenic organic vapor gave quite similar results which were consistent with measurements at 26 measurement stations across Europe. The number of larger particles that serve as cloud condensation nuclei showed little sensitivity to the assumed nucleation mechanism.
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
Short summary
In our study, we built upon previous work to investigate the patterns artificial intelligence (AI) learns to detect atmospheric features like tropical cyclones (TCs) and atmospheric rivers (ARs). As primary objective, we adopt a method to explain the AI used and investigate the plausibility of learned patterns. We find that plausible patterns are learned for both TCs and ARs. Hence, the chosen method is very useful for gaining confidence in the AI-based detection of atmospheric features.
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
Short summary
We tested the capability of the flux divergence approach (FDA) to reproduce known NOx emissions using synthetic NO2 satellite column retrievals from high-resolution model simulations. The FDA accurately reproduced NOx emissions when column observations were limited to the boundary layer and when the variability of the NO2 lifetime, the NOx : NO2 ratio, and NO2 profile shapes were correctly modeled. This introduces strong model dependency, reducing the simplicity of the original FDA formulation.
Stefano Ubbiali, Christian Kühnlein, Christoph Schär, Linda Schlemmer, Thomas C. Schulthess, Michael Staneker, and Heini Wernli
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 529–546, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-529-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-529-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We explore a high-level programming model for porting numerical weather prediction (NWP) model codes to graphics processing units (GPUs). We present a Python rewrite with the domain-specific library GT4Py (GridTools for Python) of two renowned cloud microphysics schemes and the associated tangent-linear and adjoint algorithms. We find excellent portability, competitive GPU performance, robust execution on diverse computing architectures, and enhanced code maintainability and user productivity.
Pieter Rijsdijk, Henk Eskes, Arlene Dingemans, K. Folkert Boersma, Takashi Sekiya, Kazuyuki Miyazaki, and Sander Houweling
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 483–509, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-483-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-483-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Clustering high-resolution satellite observations into superobservations improves model validation and data assimilation applications. In our paper, we derive quantitative uncertainties for satellite NO2 column observations based on knowledge of the retrievals, including a detailed analysis of spatial error correlations and representativity errors. The superobservations and uncertainty estimates are tested in a global chemical data assimilation system and are found to improve the forecasts.
Dario Di Santo, Cenlin He, Fei Chen, and Lorenzo Giovannini
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 433–459, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-433-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-433-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents the Machine Learning-based Automated Multi-method Parameter Sensitivity and Importance analysis Tool (ML-AMPSIT), a computationally efficient tool that uses machine learning algorithms for sensitivity analysis in atmospheric models. It is tested with the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model coupled with the Noah-Multiparameterization (Noah-MP) land surface model to investigate sea breeze circulation sensitivity to vegetation-related parameters.
Robert Schoetter, Robin James Hogan, Cyril Caliot, and Valéry Masson
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 405–431, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-405-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-405-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Radiation is relevant to the atmospheric impact on people and infrastructure in cities as it can influence the urban heat island, building energy consumption, and human thermal comfort. A new urban radiation model, assuming a more realistic form of urban morphology, is coupled to the urban climate model Town Energy Balance (TEB). The new TEB is evaluated with a reference radiation model for a variety of urban morphologies, and an improvement in the simulated radiative observables is found.
Zebediah Engberg, Roger Teoh, Tristan Abbott, Thomas Dean, Marc E. J. Stettler, and Marc L. Shapiro
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 253–286, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-253-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-253-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Contrails forming in some atmospheric conditions may persist and become strongly warming cirrus, while in other conditions may be neutral or cooling. We develop a contrail forecast model to predict contrail climate forcing for any arbitrary point in space and time and explore integration into flight planning and air traffic management. This approach enables contrail interventions to target high-probability high-climate-impact regions and reduce unintended consequences of contrail management.
Nils Eingrüber, Alina Domm, Wolfgang Korres, and Karl Schneider
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 141–160, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-141-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-141-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Climate change adaptation measures like unsealings can reduce urban heat stress. As grass grid pavers have never been parameterized for microclimate model simulations with ENVI-met, a new parameterization was developed based on field measurements. To analyse the cooling potential, scenario analyses were performed for a densely developed area in Cologne. Statistically significant average cooling effects of up to −11.1 K were found for surface temperature and up to −2.9 K for 1 m air temperature.
Xuan Wang, Lei Bi, Hong Wang, Yaqiang Wang, Wei Han, Xueshun Shen, and Xiaoye Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 117–139, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-117-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-117-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Artificial-Intelligence-based Nonspherical Aerosol Optical Scheme (AI-NAOS) was developed to improve the estimation of the aerosol direct radiation effect and was coupled online with a chemical weather model. The AI-NAOS scheme considers black carbon as fractal aggregates and soil dust as super-spheroids, encapsulated with hygroscopic aerosols. Real-case simulations emphasize the necessity of accurately representing nonspherical and inhomogeneous aerosols in chemical weather models.
Lukas Pfitzenmaier, Pavlos Kollias, Nils Risse, Imke Schirmacher, Bernat Puigdomenech Treserras, and Katia Lamer
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 101–115, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-101-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-101-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Python tool Orbital-Radar transfers suborbital radar data (ground-based, airborne, and forward-simulated numerical weather prediction model) into synthetic spaceborne cloud profiling radar data, mimicking platform-specific instrument characteristics, e.g. EarthCARE or CloudSat. The tool's novelty lies in simulating characteristic errors and instrument noise. Thus, existing data sets are transferred into synthetic observations and can be used for satellite calibration–validation studies.
Mark Buehner, Jean-Francois Caron, Ervig Lapalme, Alain Caya, Ping Du, Yves Rochon, Sergey Skachko, Maziar Bani Shahabadi, Sylvain Heilliette, Martin Deshaies-Jacques, Weiguang Chang, and Michael Sitwell
Geosci. Model Dev., 18, 1–18, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-18-1-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Modular and Integrated Data Assimilation System (MIDAS) software is described. The flexible design of MIDAS enables both deterministic and ensemble prediction applications for the atmosphere and several other Earth system components. It is currently used for all main operational weather prediction systems in Canada and also for sea ice and sea surface temperature analysis. The use of MIDAS for multiple Earth system components will facilitate future research on coupled data assimilation.
Zichen Wu, Xueshun Chen, Zifa Wang, Huansheng Chen, Zhe Wang, Qing Mu, Lin Wu, Wending Wang, Xiao Tang, Jie Li, Ying Li, Qizhong Wu, Yang Wang, Zhiyin Zou, and Zijian Jiang
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 8885–8907, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8885-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8885-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a model to simulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from global to regional scales. The model can reproduce PAH distribution well. The concentration of BaP (indicator species for PAHs) could exceed the target values of 1 ng m-3 over some areas (e.g., in central Europe, India, and eastern China). The change in BaP is lower than that in PM2.5 from 2013 to 2018. China still faces significant potential health risks posed by BaP although the Action Plan has been implemented.
Marie Taufour, Jean-Pierre Pinty, Christelle Barthe, Benoît Vié, and Chien Wang
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 8773–8798, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8773-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8773-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We have developed a complete two-moment version of the LIMA (Liquid Ice Multiple Aerosols) microphysics scheme. We have focused on collection processes, where the hydrometeor number transfer is often estimated in proportion to the mass transfer. The impact of these parameterizations on a convective system and the prospects for more realistic estimates of secondary parameters (reflectivity, hydrometeor size) are shown in a first test on an idealized case.
Yuya Takane, Yukihiro Kikegawa, Ko Nakajima, and Hiroyuki Kusaka
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 8639–8664, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8639-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8639-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A new parameterisation for dynamic anthropogenic heat and electricity consumption is described. The model reproduced the temporal variation in and spatial distributions of electricity consumption and temperature well in summer and winter. The partial air conditioning was the most critical factor, significantly affecting the value of anthropogenic heat emission.
Hongyi Li, Ting Yang, Lars Nerger, Dawei Zhang, Di Zhang, Guigang Tang, Haibo Wang, Yele Sun, Pingqing Fu, Hang Su, and Zifa Wang
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 8495–8519, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8495-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To accurately characterize the spatiotemporal distribution of particulate matter <2.5 µm chemical components, we developed the Nested Air Quality Prediction Model System with the Parallel Data Assimilation Framework (NAQPMS-PDAF) v2.0 for chemical components with non-Gaussian and nonlinear properties. NAQPMS-PDAF v2.0 has better computing efficiency, excels when used with a small ensemble size, and can significantly improve the simulation performance of chemical components.
T. Nash Skipper, Christian Hogrefe, Barron H. Henderson, Rohit Mathur, Kristen M. Foley, and Armistead G. Russell
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 8373–8397, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8373-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8373-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Chemical transport model simulations are combined with ozone observations to estimate the bias in ozone attributable to US anthropogenic sources and individual sources of US background ozone: natural sources, non-US anthropogenic sources, and stratospheric ozone. Results indicate a positive bias correlated with US anthropogenic emissions during summer in the eastern US and a negative bias correlated with stratospheric ozone during spring.
Li Fang, Jianbing Jin, Arjo Segers, Ke Li, Ji Xia, Wei Han, Baojie Li, Hai Xiang Lin, Lei Zhu, Song Liu, and Hong Liao
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 8267–8282, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8267-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8267-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Model evaluations against ground observations are usually unfair. The former simulates mean status over coarse grids and the latter the surrounding atmosphere. To solve this, we proposed the new land-use-based representative (LUBR) operator that considers intra-grid variance. The LUBR operator is validated to provide insights that align with satellite measurements. The results highlight the importance of considering fine-scale urban–rural differences when comparing models and observation.
Mijie Pang, Jianbing Jin, Arjo Segers, Huiya Jiang, Wei Han, Batjargal Buyantogtokh, Ji Xia, Li Fang, Jiandong Li, Hai Xiang Lin, and Hong Liao
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 8223–8242, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8223-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8223-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The ensemble Kalman filter (EnKF) improves dust storm forecasts but faces challenges with position errors. The valid time shifting EnKF (VTS-EnKF) addresses this by adjusting for position errors, enhancing accuracy in forecasting dust storms, as proven in tests on 2021 events, even with smaller ensembles and time intervals.
Mike Bush, David L. A. Flack, Huw W. Lewis, Sylvia I. Bohnenstengel, Chris J. Short, Charmaine Franklin, Adrian P. Lock, Martin Best, Paul Field, Anne McCabe, Kwinten Van Weverberg, Segolene Berthou, Ian Boutle, Jennifer K. Brooke, Seb Cole, Shaun Cooper, Gareth Dow, John Edwards, Anke Finnenkoetter, Kalli Furtado, Kate Halladay, Kirsty Hanley, Margaret A. Hendry, Adrian Hill, Aravindakshan Jayakumar, Richard W. Jones, Humphrey Lean, Joshua C. K. Lee, Andy Malcolm, Marion Mittermaier, Saji Mohandas, Stuart Moore, Cyril Morcrette, Rachel North, Aurore Porson, Susan Rennie, Nigel Roberts, Belinda Roux, Claudio Sanchez, Chun-Hsu Su, Simon Tucker, Simon Vosper, David Walters, James Warner, Stuart Webster, Mark Weeks, Jonathan Wilkinson, Michael Whitall, Keith D. Williams, and Hugh Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-201, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-201, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for GMD
Short summary
Short summary
RAL configurations define settings for the Unified Model atmosphere and Joint UK Land Environment Simulator. The third version of the Regional Atmosphere and Land (RAL3) science configuration for kilometre and sub-km scale modelling represents a major advance compared to previous versions (RAL2) by delivering a common science definition for applications in tropical and mid-latitude regions. RAL3 has more realistic precipitation distributions and improved representation of clouds and visibility.
Prabhakar Namdev, Maithili Sharan, Piyush Srivastava, and Saroj Kanta Mishra
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 8093–8114, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8093-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8093-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Inadequate representation of surface–atmosphere interaction processes is a major source of uncertainty in numerical weather prediction models. Here, an effort has been made to improve the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model version 4.2.2 by introducing a unique theoretical framework under convective conditions. In addition, to enhance the potential applicability of the WRF modeling system, various commonly used similarity functions under convective conditions have also been installed.
Andrew Gettelman, Richard Forbes, Roger Marchand, Chih-Chieh Chen, and Mark Fielding
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 8069–8092, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8069-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-8069-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Supercooled liquid clouds (liquid clouds colder than 0°C) are common at higher latitudes (especially over the Southern Ocean) and are critical for constraining climate projections. We compare a single-column version of a weather model to observations with two different cloud schemes and find that both the dynamical environment and atmospheric aerosols are important for reproducing observations.
Yujuan Wang, Peng Zhang, Jie Li, Yaman Liu, Yanxu Zhang, Jiawei Li, and Zhiwei Han
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7995–8021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7995-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7995-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study updates the CESM's aerosol schemes, focusing on dust, marine aerosol emissions, and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) . Dust emission modifications make deflation areas more continuous, improving results in North America and the sub-Arctic. Humidity correction to sea-salt emissions has a minor effect. Introducing marine organic aerosol emissions, coupled with ocean biogeochemical processes, and adding aqueous reactions for SOA formation advance the CESM's aerosol modelling results.
Lucas A. McMichael, Michael J. Schmidt, Robert Wood, Peter N. Blossey, and Lekha Patel
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7867–7888, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7867-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7867-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Marine cloud brightening (MCB) is a climate intervention technique to potentially cool the climate. Climate models used to gauge regional climate impacts associated with MCB often assume large areas of the ocean are uniformly perturbed. However, a more realistic representation of MCB application would require information about how an injected particle plume spreads. This work aims to develop such a plume-spreading model.
Leonardo Olivetti and Gabriele Messori
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7915–7962, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7915-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7915-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Data-driven models are becoming a viable alternative to physics-based models for weather forecasting up to 15 d into the future. However, it is unclear whether they are as reliable as physics-based models when forecasting weather extremes. We evaluate their performance in forecasting near-surface cold, hot, and windy extremes globally. We find that data-driven models can compete with physics-based models and that the choice of the best model mainly depends on the region and type of extreme.
David C. Wong, Jeff Willison, Jonathan E. Pleim, Golam Sarwar, James Beidler, Russ Bullock, Jerold A. Herwehe, Rob Gilliam, Daiwen Kang, Christian Hogrefe, George Pouliot, and Hosein Foroutan
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7855–7866, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7855-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7855-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This work describe how we linked the meteorological Model for Prediction Across Scales – Atmosphere (MPAS-A) with the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) air quality model to form a coupled modelling system. This could be used to study air quality or climate and air quality interaction at a global scale. This new model scales well in high-performance computing environments and performs well with respect to ground surface networks in terms of ozone and PM2.5.
Markus Kunze, Christoph Zülicke, Tarique Adnan Siddiqui, Claudia Christine Stephan, Yosuke Yamazaki, Claudia Stolle, Sebastian Borchert, and Hauke Schmidt
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-191, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-191, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for GMD
Short summary
Short summary
We present the Icosahedral Nonhydrostatic (ICON) general circulation model with upper atmosphere extension with the physics package for numerical weather prediction (UA-ICON(NWP)). The parameters for the gravity wave parameterizations were optimized, and realistic modelling of the thermal and dynamic state of the mesopause regions was achieved. UA-ICON(NWP) now shows a realistic frequency of major sudden stratospheric warmings and well-represented solar tides in temperature.
Giulio Mandorli and Claudia J. Stubenrauch
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7795–7813, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7795-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7795-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In recent years, several studies focused their attention on the disposition of convection. Lots of methods, called indices, have been developed to quantify the amount of convection clustering. These indices are evaluated in this study by defining criteria that must be satisfied and then evaluating the indices against these standards. None of the indices meet all criteria, with some only partially meeting them.
Wonbae Bang, Jacob Carlin, Kwonil Kim, Alexander Ryzhkov, Guosheng Liu, and Gyuwon Lee
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-179, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-179, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for GMD
Short summary
Short summary
Microphysics model-based diagnosis such as the spectral bin model (SBM) recently has been attempted to diagnose winter precipitation types. In this study, the accuracy of SBM-based precipitation type diagnosis is compared with other traditional methods. SBM have relatively higher accuracy about snow and wetsnow events whereas lower accuracy about rain event. When microphysics scheme in the SBM was optimized for the corresponding region, accuracy about rain events was improved.
Kerry Anderson, Jack Chen, Peter Englefield, Debora Griffin, Paul A. Makar, and Dan Thompson
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7713–7749, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7713-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7713-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Global Forest Fire Emissions Prediction System (GFFEPS) is a model that predicts smoke and carbon emissions from wildland fires. The model calculates emissions from the ground up based on satellite-detected fires, modelled weather and fire characteristics. Unlike other global models, GFFEPS uses daily weather conditions to capture changing burning conditions on a day-to-day basis. GFFEPS produced lower carbon emissions due to the changing weather not captured by the other models.
Jianyu Lin, Tie Dai, Lifang Sheng, Weihang Zhang, Shangfei Hai, and Yawen Kong
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3321, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3321, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The effectiveness of assimilation system and its sensitivity to ensemble member size and length of assimilation window have been investigated. This study advances our understanding about the selection of basic parameters in the four-dimension local ensemble transform Kalman filter assimilation system and the performance of ensemble simulation in a particulate matter polluted environment.
Samiha Binte Shahid, Forrest G. Lacey, Christine Wiedinmyer, Robert J. Yokelson, and Kelley C. Barsanti
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7679–7711, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7679-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7679-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Next-generation Emissions InVentory expansion of Akagi (NEIVA) v.1.0 is a comprehensive biomass burning emissions database that allows integration of new data and flexible querying. Data are stored in connected datasets, including recommended averages of ~1500 constituents for 14 globally relevant fire types. Individual compounds were mapped to common model species to allow better attribution of emissions in modeling studies that predict the effects of fires on air quality and climate.
Kang Hu, Hong Liao, Dantong Liu, Jianbing Jin, Lei Chen, Siyuan Li, Yangzhou Wu, Changhao Wu, Shitong Zhao, Xiaotong Jiang, Ping Tian, Kai Bi, Ye Wang, and Delong Zhao
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-157, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-157, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for GMD
Short summary
Short summary
This study combines Machine Learning with Concentration-Weighted Trajectory Analysis to quantify regional transport PM2.5. From 2013–2020, local emissions dominated Beijing's pollution events. The Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan reduced regional transport pollution, but the eastern region showed the smallest decrease. Beijing should prioritize local emission reduction while considering the east region's contributions in future strategies.
Lucie Bakels, Daria Tatsii, Anne Tipka, Rona Thompson, Marina Dütsch, Michael Blaschek, Petra Seibert, Katharina Baier, Silvia Bucci, Massimo Cassiani, Sabine Eckhardt, Christine Groot Zwaaftink, Stephan Henne, Pirmin Kaufmann, Vincent Lechner, Christian Maurer, Marie D. Mulder, Ignacio Pisso, Andreas Plach, Rakesh Subramanian, Martin Vojta, and Andreas Stohl
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7595–7627, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7595-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7595-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Computer models are essential for improving our understanding of how gases and particles move in the atmosphere. We present an update of the atmospheric transport model FLEXPART. FLEXPART 11 is more accurate due to a reduced number of interpolations and a new scheme for wet deposition. It can simulate non-spherical aerosols and includes linear chemical reactions. It is parallelised using OpenMP and includes new user options. A new user manual details how to use FLEXPART 11.
Bjarke Tobias Eisensøe Olsen, Andrea Noemi Hahmann, Nicolás González Alonso-de-Linaje, Mark Žagar, and Martin Dörenkämper
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3123, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3123, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Low-level jets (LLJs) are strong winds in the lower atmosphere, important for wind energy as turbines get taller. This study compares a weather model (WRF) with real data across five North and Baltic Sea sites. Adjusting the model improved accuracy over the widely-used ERA5. In key offshore regions, LLJs occur 10–15 % of the time and significantly boost wind power, especially in spring and summer, contributing up to 30 % of total capacity in some areas.
Jaroslav Resler, Petra Bauerová, Michal Belda, Martin Bureš, Kryštof Eben, Vladimír Fuka, Jan Geletič, Radek Jareš, Jan Karel, Josef Keder, Pavel Krč, William Patiño, Jelena Radović, Hynek Řezníček, Matthias Sühring, Adriana Šindelářová, and Ondřej Vlček
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 7513–7537, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7513-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-7513-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Detailed modeling of urban air quality in stable conditions is a challenge. We show the unprecedented sensitivity of a large eddy simulation (LES) model to meteorological boundary conditions and model parameters in an urban environment under stable conditions. We demonstrate the crucial role of boundary conditions for the comparability of results with observations. The study reveals a strong sensitivity of the results to model parameters and model numerical instabilities during such conditions.
Cited articles
Borge, R., Santiago, J. L., de la Paz, D., Martín, F., Domingo, J., Valdés, C., Sánchez B., Rivas, E., Rozas, M. T., Lázaro, S., Pérez, J., and Fernández, A.: Application of a short term air quality action plan in Madrid (Spain) under a high-pollution episode-Part II: Assessment from multi-scale modelling, Sci. Total Environ., 635, 1574–1584, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.04.323, 2018.
Bougeault, P. and Lacarrere, P.: Parameterization of Orography-Induced Turbulence in a Mesobeta–Scale Model, Mon. Weather Rev., 117, 1872–1890, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0493(1989)117<1872:POOITI>2.0.CO;2, 1989.
Broadbent, A. M., Krayenhoff, E. S., and Georgescu, M.: The motley drivers of heat and cold exposure in 21st century US cities, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 117, 21108–21117, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2005492117, 2020.
Brousse, O., Martilli, A., Foley, M., Mills, G., and Bechtel, B.: WUDAPT, an efficient land use producing data tool for mesoscale models? Integration of urban LCZ in WRF over Madrid, Urban Clim., 17, 116–134, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2016.04.001, 2016.
Brown, M. J., Lawson, R. E., DeCroix, D. S., and Lee, R. L.: Comparison of centerline velocity measurements obtained around 2D and 3D building arrays in a wind tunnel, Int. 40 Soc. Environ. Hydraulics, Tempe, AZ, 5, 495, OSTI ID: 783425, https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc716934/m2/1/high_res_d/783425.pdf (last access: 25 June 2024), 2001
Coceal, O., Dobre, A., Thomas, T. G., and Belcher, S. E.: Structure of turbulent flow over regular arrays of cubical roughness, J. Fluid Mech., 589, 375–409, https://doi.org/10.1017/S002211200700794X, 2007.
Franke, J., Hellsten, A., Schlünzen, H., and Carissimo, B.: The Best Practise Guideline for the CFD simulation of flows in the urban environment: an outcome of COST 732, in: The Fifth International Symposium on Computational Wind Engineering (CWE2010), 1–10, ISBN 3-00-018312-4, 2010.
Frigo, M. and Johnson, S. G.: FFTW: an adaptive software architecture for the FFT, in: Proceedings of the 1998 IEEE International Conference on Acoustics, Speech and Signal Processing, ICASSP '98 (Cat. No.98CH36181), vol. 3, 1381–1384, https://doi.org/10.1109/ICASSP.1998.681704, 1998.
Gagge, A. P., Fobelets, A. P., and Berglund, L.: A standard predictive index of human response to the thermal environment, ASHRAE T., 92, 709–731, 1986.
Geletič, J., Lehnert, M., Savić, S., and Milošević, D.: Modelled spatiotemporal variability of outdoor thermal comfort in local climate zones of the city of Brno, Czech Republic, Sci. Total Environ., 624, 385–395, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2017.12.076, 2018.
Giannaros, T. M., Lagouvardos, K., Kotroni, V., and Matzarakis, A.: Operational forecasting of human-biometeorological conditions, Int. J. Biometeorol., 62, 1339–1343, 2018.
Giannaros, C., Agathangelidis, I., Papavasileiou, G., Galanaki, E., Kotroni, V., Lagouvardos, K., and Matzarakis, A.: The extreme heat wave of July–August 2021 in the Athens urban area (Greece): Atmospheric and human-biometeorological analysis exploiting ultra-high resolution numerical modeling and the local climate zone framework, Sci. Total Environ., 857, 159300, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.159300, 2023.
Höppe, P.: The physiological equivalent temperature – a universal index for the biometeorological assessment of the thermal environment, Int. J. Biometeorol., 43, 71–75, https://doi.org/10.1007/s004840050118, 1999.
Jendritzky, G., de Dear, R., and Havenith, G.: UTCI – Why another thermal index?, Int. J. Biometeorol., 56, 421–428, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-011-0513-7, 2012.
Jiang, T., Krayenhoff, E. S., Voogt, J. A., Warland, J., Demuzere, M., and Moede, C.: Dynamically downscaled projection of urban outdoor thermal stress and indoor space cooling during future extreme heat, Urban Clim., 51, 101648, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2023.101648, 2023.
Jin, L., Schubert, S., Fenner, D., Salim, M. H., and Schneider, C.: Estimation of mean radiant temperature in cities using an urban parameterization and building energy model within a mesoscale atmospheric model, Meteorol. Z., 31, 31–52, 2022.
Kracht, O., Santiago, J., Martin, F., Piersanti, A., Cremona, G., Righini, G., Vitali, L., Delaney, K., Basu, B., Ghosh, B., Spangl, W., Brendle, C., Latikka, J., Kousa, A., Pärjälä, E., Meretoja, M., Malherbe, L., Letinois, L., Beauchamp, M., Lenartz, F., Hutsemekers, V., Nguyen, L., Hoogerbrugge, R., Eneroth, K., Silvergren, S., Hooyberghs, H., Viaene, P., Maiheu, B., Janssen, S., Roet, D., and Gerboles, M., Spatial representativeness of air quality monitoring sites: Outcomes of the FAIRMODE/AQUILA intercomparison exercise, EUR 28987 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, ISBN 978-92-79-77218-4, JRC108791, https://doi.org/10.2760/60611, 2017.
Krayenhoff, E. S., Moustaoui, M., Broadbent, A. M., Gupta, V., and Georgescu, M.: Diurnal interaction between urban expansion, climate change and adaptation in US cities, Nat. Clim. Change, 8, 1097–1103, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0320-9, 2018.
Krayenhoff, E. S., Jiang, T., Christen, A., Martilli, A., Oke, T. R., Bailey, B. N., and Crawford, B. R.: A multi-layer urban canopy meteorological model with trees (BEP-Tree): Street tree impacts on pedestrian-level climate, Urban Clim., 32, 100590, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2020.100590, 2020.
Kusaka, H., Kondo, H., Kikegawa, Y., and Kimura, F.: A simple single-layer urban canopy model for atmospheric models: Comparison with multi-layer and slab models, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 101, 329–358, 2001.
Lachapelle, J. A., Krayenhoff, E. S., Middel, A., Meltzer, S., Broadbent, A. M., and Georgescu, M.: A microscale three-dimensional model of urban outdoor thermal exposure (TUF-Pedestrian), Int. J. Biometeorol., 66, 833–848, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-022-02241-1, 2022.
Lemonsu, A., Viguié, V., Daniel, M., and Masson, V.: Vulnerability to heat waves: Impact of urban expansion scenarios on urban heat island and heat stress in Paris (France), Urban Clim., 14, 586–605, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2015.10.007, 2015.
Leroyer, S., Bélair, S., Spacek, L., and Gultepe, I.: Modelling of radiation-based thermal stress indicators for urban numerical weather prediction, Urban Clim., 25, 64–81, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2018.05.003, 2018.
Lu, J., Nazarian, N., and Hart, M.: OSM2LES – A Python-based tool to prepare realistic urban geometry for LES simulation from OpenStreetMap (0.1.0), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6566346, 2022.
Lu, J., Nazarian, N., Hart, M., Krayenhoff, S., and Martilli, A.: Novel geometric parameters for assessing flow over realistic versus idealized urban arrays, J. Adv. Model. Earth Sy., 15, e2022MS003287, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022MS003287, 2023a.
Lu, J., Nazarian, N., Hart, M., Krayenhoff, S., and Martilli, A.: Representing the effects of building height variability on urban canopy flow, Q. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 150, 46–67, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.4584, 2023b.
Maronga, B., Banzhaf, S., Burmeister, C., Esch, T., Forkel, R., Fröhlich, D., Fuka, V., Gehrke, K. F., Geletič, J., Giersch, S., Gronemeier, T., Groß, G., Heldens, W., Hellsten, A., Hoffmann, F., Inagaki, A., Kadasch, E., Kanani-Sühring, F., Ketelsen, K., Khan, B. A., Knigge, C., Knoop, H., Krč, P., Kurppa, M., Maamari, H., Matzarakis, A., Mauder, M., Pallasch, M., Pavlik, D., Pfafferott, J., Resler, J., Rissmann, S., Russo, E., Salim, M., Schrempf, M., Schwenkel, J., Seckmeyer, G., Schubert, S., Sühring, M., von Tils, R., Vollmer, L., Ward, S., Witha, B., Wurps, H., Zeidler, J., and Raasch, S.: Overview of the PALM model system 6.0, Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 1335–1372, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-1335-2020, 2020.
Martilli, A.: WRF-comfort, Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7951433, 2023a.
Martilli, A.: data shown in manuscript “WRF-Comfort: Simulating micro-scale variability of outdoor heat stress at the city scale with a mesoscale model”, Zenodo [data set], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8199017, 2023b.
Martilli, A., Clappier, A., and Rotach, M. W.: An Urban Surface Exchange Parameterisation for Mesoscale Models, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 104, 261–304, https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1016099921195, 2002.
Martilli, A., Sanchez, B., Rasilla, D., Pappaccogli, G., Allende, F., Martin, F., Róman-Cascón, C., Yagüe, C., and Fernandez, F: Simulating the meteorology during persistent Wintertime Thermal Inversions over urban areas, The case of Madrid, Atmos. Res., 263, 105789, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2021.105789, 2021.
Martilli, A., Sánchez, B., Santiago, J. L., Rasilla, D., Pappaccogli, G., Allende, F., Martín, F., Roman-Cascón, C., Yagüe, C., and Fernández, F.: Simulating the pollutant dispersion during persistent Wintertime thermal Inversions over urban areas. The case of Madrid, Atmos. Res., 270, 106058, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2022.106058, 2022.
Masson, V.: A physically-based scheme for the urban energy budget in atmospheric models, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 94, 357–397, 2000.
Matzarakis, A., Rutz, F., and Mayer, H.: Modelling radiation fluxes in simple and complex environments – application of the RayMan model, Int. J. Biometeorol., 51, 323–334, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00484-006-0061-8, 2007.
Middel, A. and Krayenhoff, E. S.: Micrometeorological determinants of pedestrian thermal exposure during record-breaking heat in Tempe, Arizona: Introducing the MaRTy observational platform, Sci. Total Environ., 687, 137–151, 2019.
Nazarian, N., Fan, J., Sin, T., Norford, L., and Kleissl, J.: Predicting outdoor thermal comfort in urban environments: A 3D numerical model for standard effective temperature, Urban Clim., 20, 251–267, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2017.04.011, 2017.
Nazarian, N., Martilli, A., and Kleissl, J.: Impacts of realistic urban heating, part I: spatial variability of mean flow, turbulent exchange and pollutant dispersion, Bound.-Lay. Meteorol., 166, 367–393, 2018.
Nazarian, N., Acero, J. A., and Norford, L.: Outdoor thermal comfort autonomy: Performance metrics for climate-conscious urban design, Build. Environ., 155, 145–160, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2019.03.028, 2019.
Nazarian, N., Krayenhoff, E. S., and Martilli, A.: A one-dimensional model of turbulent flow through “urban” canopies (MLUCM v2.0): updates based on large-eddy simulation, Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 937–953, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-937-2020, 2020.
Nazarian, N., Krayenhoff, E. S., Bechtel, B., Hondula, D. M., Paolini, R., Vanos, J., Cheung, T., Chow, W. T. L., de Dear, R., Jay, O., Lee, J. K. W., Martilli, A., Middel, A., Norford, L. K., Sadeghi, M., Schiavon, S., and Santamouris, M.: Integrated assessment of urban overheating impacts on human life, Earths Future, 10, e2022EF002682, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022ef002682, 2022.
Piacsek, S. A. and Williams, G. P.: Conservation properties of convection difference schemes, J. Comput. Phys., 6, 392–405, https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-9991(70)90038-0, 1970.
Pigliautile, I., Pisello, A. L., and Bou-Zeid, E.: Humans in the city: Representing outdoor thermal comfort in urban canopy models, Renew. Sustain Energ. Rev., 133, 110103, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110103, 2020.
Potchter, O., Cohen, P., Lin, T. P., and Matzarakis, A.: Outdoor human thermal perception in various climates: A comprehensive review of approaches, methods and quantification, Sci. Total. Environ., 1, 390–406, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.276, 2018.
Rodriguez-Sanchez, A.: Simulación de olas de calor en la ciudad de Madrid, Master Thesis, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/353350538_Simulacion_de_olas_de_calor_en_la_ciudad_de_Madrid#fullTextFileContent (last access: 24June 2024), 2020.
Salamanca, F., Krpo, A., Martilli, A., and Clappier, A.: A new building energy model coupled with an urban canopy parameterization for urban climate simulations—part I. formulation, verification, and sensitivity, Theor. Appl. Climatol., 99, 331–344, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00704-009-0142-9, 2010.
Salamanca, F., Martilli, A., and Yagüe, C.: A numerical study of the Urban Heat Island over Madrid during the DESIREX (2008) campaign with WRF and an evaluation of simple mitigation strategies, Int. J. Climatol., 32, 2372–2386, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.3398, 2012.
Santiago, J. L., Krayenhoff, E. S., and Martilli, A.: Flow simulations for simplified urban configurations with microscale distributions of surface thermal forcing, Urban Clim., 9, 115–133, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2014.07.008, 2014.
Santiago, J. L., Rivas, E., Sanchez, B., Buccolieri, R., and Martin, F.: The impact of planting trees on NOx concentrations: The case of the Plaza de la Cruz neighbourhood in Pamplona (Spain), Atmosphere, 8, p. 131, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos8070131, 2017.
Santiago, J. L., Sanchez, B., Quaassdorff, C., de la Paz, D., Martilli, A., Martín, F., Borge, R., Rivas, E., Gómez-Moreno, F. J., Díaz, E. and Artiñano, B., Yagüe, C., and Vardoulakis, S.: Performance evaluation of a multiscale modelling system applied to particulate matter dispersion in a real traffic hot spot in Madrid (Spain), Atmos. Pollut. Res., 11, 141–155, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2019.10.001, 2020.
Sanchez, B., Santiago, J. L., Martilli, A., Palacios, M., Núñez, L., Pujadas, M., and Fernández-Pampillón, J.: NOx depolluting performance of photocatalytic materials in an urban area – Part II: assessment through computational fluid dynamics simulations, Atmos. Environ., 246, 118091, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.118091, 2021.
Sanchez, B., Santiago, J. L., Martilli, A., Martin, F., Borge, R., Quaassdorff, C., and de la Paz, D.: Modelling NOx concentrations through CFD-RANS in an urban hot-spot using high resolution traffic emissions and meteorology from a mesoscale model, Atmos. Environ., 163, 155–165, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.05.022, 2017.
Siemens Digital Industries, Simcenter STAR-CCM+ software, Software, https://plm.sw.siemens.com/en-US/simcenter/fluids-thermal-simulation/star-ccm/ (last access: 25 June 2024), 2023.
Skamarock, W. C., Klemp, J. B., Dudhia, J., Gill, D. O., Liu, Z., Berner, J., Wang, W., Powers, J. G., Duda, M. G., Barker, D. M., and Huag, X.-Y.: A description of the advanced research WRF model version 4, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA, 145, 550, https://doi.org/10.5065/1dfh-6p97, 2019.
Thorsson, S., Lindberg, F., Eliasson, I., and Holmer, B.: Different methods for estimating the mean radiant temperature in an outdoor urban setting, Int. J. Climatol., 27, 1983–1993, 2007.
Tuholske, C., Caylor, K., Funk, C., Verdin, A., Sweeney, S., Grace, K., Peterson, P., and Evans, T.: Global urban population exposure to extreme heat, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 118, e2024792118, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2024792118, 2021.
Zhang, J., Li, Z., and Hu, D.: Effects of urban morphology on thermal comfort at the micro-scale, Sustain. Cities Soc., 86, 104150, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.104150, 2022.
Zhao, L., Oleson, K., Bou-Zeid, E., Krayenhoff, E. S., Bray, A., Zhu, Q., Zheng, Z., Chen, C., and Oppenheimer, M.: Global multi-model projections of local urban climates, Nat. Clim. Chang., 11, 152–157, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-020-00958-8, 2021.
Short summary
Here, we present a model that quantifies the thermal stress and its microscale variability at a city scale with a mesoscale model. This tool can have multiple applications, from early warnings of extreme heat to the vulnerable population to the evaluation of the effectiveness of heat mitigation strategies. It is the first model that includes information on microscale variability in a mesoscale model, something that is essential for fully evaluating heat stress.
Here, we present a model that quantifies the thermal stress and its microscale variability at a...
