Articles | Volume 7, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1001-2014
© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1001-2014
© Author(s) 2014. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Development and technical paper
| 
27 May 2014
Development and technical paper |
| 27 May 2014
Turbulent transport, emissions and the role of compensating errors in chemical transport models
P. A. Makar
Air Quality Research Division, Environmental Science and Technology Directorate, Environment Canada, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4, Canada
R. Nissen
Air Quality Science Unit, Pacific and Yukon Region, Environment Canada, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
A. Teakles
Air Quality Science Unit, Pacific and Yukon Region, Environment Canada, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
J. Zhang
Air Quality Research Division, Environmental Science and Technology Directorate, Environment Canada, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4, Canada
Q. Zheng
Air Quality Research Division, Environmental Science and Technology Directorate, Environment Canada, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4, Canada
M. D. Moran
Air Quality Research Division, Environmental Science and Technology Directorate, Environment Canada, Toronto, Ontario M3H 5T4, Canada
H. Yau
Air Quality Science Unit, Pacific and Yukon Region, Environment Canada, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
C. diCenzo
Air Quality Science Unit, Pacific and Yukon Region, Environment Canada, Vancouver, B.C., Canada
retired
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Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4361–4372, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4361-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4361-2023, 2023
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Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Jack Chen, Balbir Pabla, Wanmin Gong, Craig Stroud, Christopher Sioris, Kerry Anderson, Philip Cheung, Junhua Zhang, and Jason Milbrandt
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Debora Griffin, Christopher Sioris, Jack Chen, Nolan Dickson, Andrew Kovachik, Martin de Graaf, Swadhin Nanda, Pepijn Veefkind, Enrico Dammers, Chris A. McLinden, Paul Makar, and Ayodeji Akingunola
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Cynthia H. Whaley, Elisabeth Galarneau, Paul A. Makar, Michael D. Moran, and Junhua Zhang
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Matthew Russell, Amir Hakami, Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Junhua Zhang, Michael D. Moran, and Qiong Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4393–4417, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4393-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4393-2019, 2019
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High-resolution air-quality forecast modeling results are compared for two different grid spacings for the Environment and Climate Change Canada GEM-MACH model. While the higher-resolution simulations have worse formal error scores, we show that the higher-resolution model nevertheless has the ability to better resolve plume maxima and has better performance when the evaluation occurs using new scoring metrics which operate on an equal-representative-area basis.
Cristen Adams, Chris A. McLinden, Mark W. Shephard, Nolan Dickson, Enrico Dammers, Jack Chen, Paul Makar, Karen E. Cady-Pereira, Naomi Tam, Shailesh K. Kharol, Lok N. Lamsal, and Nickolay A. Krotkov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2577–2599, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2577-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2577-2019, 2019
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We estimated how much carbon monoxide, ammonia, and nitrogen oxides were emitted in the smoke from the Fort McMurray Horse River wildfire using satellite data and air quality models. The fire emitted amounts of carbon monoxide that were similar to anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions for all of Alberta over a full year. We also estimated large amounts of ammonia and nitrogen oxides emitted from the fire. These results can be used to evaluate the performance of air quality forecasting models.
Mark Gordon, Paul A. Makar, Ralf M. Staebler, Junhua Zhang, Ayodeji Akingunola, Wanmin Gong, and Shao-Meng Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14695–14714, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14695-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14695-2018, 2018
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This work uses aircraft-based measurements of smokestack plumes carried out in northern Alberta in 2013. These measurements are used to test equations used to predict how high in the air smokestack plumes rise. It is important to predict plume rise height accurately as it tells us how far downwind pollutants are carried and what air quality can be expected at the surface. We found that the equations that are typically used significantly underestimate the plume rise at this location.
Craig A. Stroud, Paul A. Makar, Junhua Zhang, Michael D. Moran, Ayodeji Akingunola, Shao-Meng Li, Amy Leithead, Katherine Hayden, and May Siu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13531–13545, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13531-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13531-2018, 2018
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It is shown that using measurement-derived volatile organic compound (VOC) and organic aerosol (OA) emissions in the GEM-MACH air quality model provides better overall predictions compared to using bottom-up emission inventories. This work was done to better constrain the fugitive organic emissions from the Athabasca oil sands region, which are a challenge to estimate with bottom-up emission approaches. We use observations from the 2013 Joint Oil Sands Monitoring study.
Junhua Zhang, Michael D. Moran, Qiong Zheng, Paul A. Makar, Pegah Baratzadeh, George Marson, Peter Liu, and Shao-Meng Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10459–10481, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10459-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10459-2018, 2018
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This paper discusses the development of new synthesized emissions inventories and the generation of air quality model-ready emissions files for the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada, using multiple emissions inventories, continuous emissions monitoring data, and inferred emission rates based on aircraft measurements. Novel facility-specific gridded spatial surrogate fields were generated to allocate emissions spatially within each huge mining facility.
Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Julian Aherne, Amanda S. Cole, Yayne-abeba Aklilu, Junhua Zhang, Isaac Wong, Katherine Hayden, Shao-Meng Li, Jane Kirk, Ken Scott, Michael D. Moran, Alain Robichaud, Hazel Cathcart, Pegah Baratzedah, Balbir Pabla, Philip Cheung, Qiong Zheng, and Dean S. Jeffries
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9897–9927, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9897-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9897-2018, 2018
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Complex computer model output was compared to and fused with observation data, to estimate potential damage due to acidifying precipitation for ecosystems in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Estimated deposition was compared to the maximum no-damage ecosystem capacity for sulfur and/or nitrogen uptake; these critical loads were exceeded, for areas between 10 000 and 330 000 square kilometres, depending on ecosystem type: ecosystem damage will occur at 2013 emission levels.
Cynthia H. Whaley, Elisabeth Galarneau, Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Wanmin Gong, Sylvie Gravel, Michael D. Moran, Craig Stroud, Junhua Zhang, and Qiong Zheng
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 2609–2632, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2609-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2609-2018, 2018
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We present a new, high-resolution, North American model of PAHs and benzene, which are toxic air pollutants that cause a variety of negative health impacts. Our simulation in a densely populated region of Canada and the U.S. shows that the model is improved over a previous model. The new model is particularly refined regarding the gas–particle partitioning of these pollutants, which has impacts on deposition and inhalation. The simulation was sensitive to the selection of vehicle emissions.
Ayodeji Akingunola, Paul A. Makar, Junhua Zhang, Andrea Darlington, Shao-Meng Li, Mark Gordon, Michael D. Moran, and Qiong Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 8667–8688, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8667-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8667-2018, 2018
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We examine the manner in which air-quality models simulate lofting of buoyant plumes of emissions from stacks (plume rise) and the impact of the level of detail in algorithms simulating particles' variation in size (particle size distribution). The most commonly used plume rise algorithm underestimates the height of plumes compared to observations, while a revised algorithm has much better performance. A 12-bin size distribution reduced the forecast 2-bin size distribution bias error by 32 %.
Joana Soares, Paul Andrew Makar, Yayne Aklilu, and Ayodeji Akingunola
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6543–6566, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6543-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6543-2018, 2018
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Grouping data on the basis of (dis)similarity can be used to assess the efficacy of monitoring networks. The data are cross-compared in terms of temporal variation and magnitude of concentrations, and sites are ranked according to their level of potential redundancy. The methodology can be applied to measurement data, helping to identify sites with different measuring technologies or data flaws, and to model output, generating maps of areas of spatial representativeness of a monitoring site.
Cynthia H. Whaley, Paul A. Makar, Mark W. Shephard, Leiming Zhang, Junhua Zhang, Qiong Zheng, Ayodeji Akingunola, Gregory R. Wentworth, Jennifer G. Murphy, Shailesh K. Kharol, and Karen E. Cady-Pereira
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 2011–2034, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2011-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2011-2018, 2018
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Using a modified air quality forecasting model, we have found that a significant fraction (> 50 %) of ambient ammonia comes from re-emission from plants and soils in the broader Athabasca Oil Sands region and much of Alberta and Saskatchewan. We also found that about 20 % of ambient ammonia in Alberta and Saskatchewan came from forest fires in the summer of 2013. The addition of these two processes improved modelled ammonia, which was a motivating factor in undertaking this research.
M. W. Shephard, C. A. McLinden, K. E. Cady-Pereira, M. Luo, S. G. Moussa, A. Leithead, J. Liggio, R. M. Staebler, A. Akingunola, P. Makar, P. Lehr, J. Zhang, D. K. Henze, D. B. Millet, J. O. Bash, L. Zhu, K. C. Wells, S. L. Capps, S. Chaliyakunnel, M. Gordon, K. Hayden, J. R. Brook, M. Wolde, and S.-M. Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 5189–5211, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5189-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5189-2015, 2015
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This study provides direct validations of Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) satellite retrieved profiles against coincident aircraft profiles of carbon monoxide, ammonia, methanol, and formic acid, all of which are of interest for air quality. The comparisons are performed over the Canadian oil sands region during an intensive field campaign in support of the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for the Oil Sands Monitoring (JOSM). Initial model evaluations are also provided.
M. Gordon, A. Vlasenko, R. M. Staebler, C. Stroud, P. A. Makar, J. Liggio, S.-M. Li, and S. Brown
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 9087–9097, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9087-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9087-2014, 2014
E. Galarneau, P. A. Makar, Q. Zheng, J. Narayan, J. Zhang, M. D. Moran, M. A. Bari, S. Pathela, A. Chen, and R. Chlumsky
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 4065–4077, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-4065-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-4065-2014, 2014
C. A. McLinden, V. Fioletov, K. F. Boersma, S. K. Kharol, N. Krotkov, L. Lamsal, P. A. Makar, R. V. Martin, J. P. Veefkind, and K. Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3637–3656, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3637-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3637-2014, 2014
J. R. Brook, P. A. Makar, D. M. L. Sills, K. L. Hayden, and R. McLaren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 10461–10482, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10461-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10461-2013, 2013
C. R. Lonsdale, R. G. Stevens, C. A. Brock, P. A. Makar, E. M. Knipping, and J. R. Pierce
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 11519–11531, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-11519-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-11519-2012, 2012
Stefan J. Miller, Paul A. Makar, and Colin J. Lee
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2197–2219, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2197-2024, 2024
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This work outlines a new solver written in Fortran to calculate the partitioning of metastable aerosols at thermodynamic equilibrium based on the forward algorithms of ISORROPIA II. The new code includes numerical improvements that decrease the computational speed (compared to ISORROPIA II) while improving the accuracy of the partitioning solution.
Kerry Anderson, Jack Chen, Peter Englefield, Debora Griffin, Paul Makar, and Dan Thompson
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-31, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-31, 2024
Revised manuscript under review for GMD
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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.
Roya Ghahreman, Wanmin Gong, Paul A. Makar, Alexandru Lupu, Amanda Cole, Kulbir Banwait, Colin Lee, and Ayodeji Akingunola
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 685–707, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-685-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-685-2024, 2024
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The article explores the impact of different representations of below-cloud scavenging on model biases. A new scavenging scheme and precipitation-phase partitioning improve the model's performance, with better SO42- scavenging and wet deposition of NO3- and NH4+.
Colin J. Lee, Paul A. Makar, and Joana Soares
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2023-185, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2023-185, 2023
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
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Clustering is an analysis technique for finding similarities within datasets. We present a new implementation of the hierarchical clustering algorithm that is able to process much larger datasets than was previously possible, by spreading the program out over many connected computers in a high-performance computing system. We show airshed maps of a high-resolution regional model output domain, and find related air pollution profiles at monitoring stations separated by thousands of kilometers.
Xuanyi Zhang, Mark Gordon, Paul A. Makar, Timothy Jiang, Jonathan Davies, and David Tarasick
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13647–13664, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13647-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13647-2023, 2023
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Measurements of ozone in the atmosphere were made in a forest downwind of oil sands mining and production facilities in northern Alberta. These measurements show that the emissions of other pollutants from oil sands production and processing reduce the amount of ozone in the forest. By using an atmospheric model combined with measurements, we find that the rate at which ozone is absorbed by the forest is lower than typical rates from similar measurements in other forests.
Olivia E. Clifton, Donna Schwede, Christian Hogrefe, Jesse O. Bash, Sam Bland, Philip Cheung, Mhairi Coyle, Lisa Emberson, Johannes Flemming, Erick Fredj, Stefano Galmarini, Laurens Ganzeveld, Orestis Gazetas, Ignacio Goded, Christopher D. Holmes, László Horváth, Vincent Huijnen, Qian Li, Paul A. Makar, Ivan Mammarella, Giovanni Manca, J. William Munger, Juan L. Pérez-Camanyo, Jonathan Pleim, Limei Ran, Roberto San Jose, Sam J. Silva, Ralf Staebler, Shihan Sun, Amos P. K. Tai, Eran Tas, Timo Vesala, Tamás Weidinger, Zhiyong Wu, and Leiming Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9911–9961, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9911-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9911-2023, 2023
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A primary sink of air pollutants is dry deposition. Dry deposition estimates differ across the models used to simulate atmospheric chemistry. Here, we introduce an effort to examine dry deposition schemes from atmospheric chemistry models. We provide our approach’s rationale, document the schemes, and describe datasets used to drive and evaluate the schemes. We also launch the analysis of results by evaluating against observations and identifying the processes leading to model–model differences.
Mark Gordon, Dane Blanchard, Timothy Jiang, Paul A. Makar, Ralf M. Staebler, Julian Aherne, Cris Mihele, and Xuanyi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7241–7255, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7241-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7241-2023, 2023
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Measurements of the gas sulfur dioxide (SO2) were made in a forest downwind of oil sands mining and production facilities in northern Alberta. These measurements tell us the rate at which SO2 is absorbed by the forest. The measured rate is much higher than what is currently used by air quality models, which is supported by a previous study in this region. This suggests that SO2 may have a much shorter lifetime in the atmosphere at this location than currently predicted by models.
Monica Crippa, Diego Guizzardi, Tim Butler, Terry Keating, Rosa Wu, Jacek Kaminski, Jeroen Kuenen, Junichi Kurokawa, Satoru Chatani, Tazuko Morikawa, George Pouliot, Jacinthe Racine, Michael D. Moran, Zbigniew Klimont, Patrick M. Manseau, Rabab Mashayekhi, Barron H. Henderson, Steven J. Smith, Harrison Suchyta, Marilena Muntean, Efisio Solazzo, Manjola Banja, Edwin Schaaf, Federico Pagani, Jung-Hun Woo, Jinseok Kim, Fabio Monforti-Ferrario, Enrico Pisoni, Junhua Zhang, David Niemi, Mourad Sassi, Tabish Ansari, and Kristen Foley
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 2667–2694, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2667-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-2667-2023, 2023
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This study responds to the global and regional atmospheric modelling community's need for a mosaic of air pollutant emissions with global coverage, long time series, spatially distributed data at a high time resolution, and a high sectoral resolution in order to enhance the understanding of transboundary air pollution. The mosaic approach to integrating official regional emission inventories with a global inventory based on a consistent methodology ensures policy-relevant results.
Debora Griffin, Jack Chen, Kerry Anderson, Paul Makar, Chris A. McLinden, Enrico Dammers, and Andre Fogal
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-649, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-649, 2023
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Satellite-derived CO emissions provide new insights into the understanding of global CO emission rates from wildfires. We use TROPOMI satellite data to create a global inventory database of wildfire CO emissions. These satellite-derived wildfire emissions are used for the evaluation and improvement of existing fire emission inventories, and to examine how the wildfire CO emissions changed over the past two decades.
Timothy Jiang, Mark Gordon, Paul A. Makar, Ralf M. Staebler, and Michael Wheeler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4361–4372, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4361-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4361-2023, 2023
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Measurements of submicron aerosols (particles smaller than 1 / 1000 of a millimeter) were made in a forest downwind of oil sands mining and production facilities in northern Alberta. These measurements tell us how quickly aerosols are absorbed by the forest (known as deposition rate) and how the deposition rate depends on the size of the aerosol. The measurements show good agreement with a parameterization developed from a recent study for deposition of aerosols to a similar pine forest.
Mahtab Majdzadeh, Craig A. Stroud, Christopher Sioris, Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Chris McLinden, Xiaoyi Zhao, Michael D. Moran, Ihab Abboud, and Jack Chen
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 219–249, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-219-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-219-2022, 2022
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A new lookup table for aerosol optical properties based on a Mie scattering code was calculated and adopted within an improved version of the photolysis module in the GEM-MACH in-line chemical transport model. The modified version of the photolysis module makes use of online interactive aerosol feedback and applies core-shell parameterizations to the black carbon absorption efficiency based on Bond et al. (2006) to the size bins with black carbon mass fraction of less than 40 %.
Xiao Lu, Daniel J. Jacob, Haolin Wang, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Yuzhong Zhang, Tia R. Scarpelli, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Hannah Nesser, A. Anthony Bloom, Shuang Ma, John R. Worden, Shaojia Fan, Robert J. Parker, Hartmut Boesch, Ritesh Gautam, Deborah Gordon, Michael D. Moran, Frances Reuland, Claudia A. Octaviano Villasana, and Arlyn Andrews
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 395–418, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-395-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-395-2022, 2022
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We evaluate methane emissions and trends for 2010–2017 in the gridded national emission inventories for the United States, Canada, and Mexico by inversion of in situ and satellite methane observations. We find that anthropogenic methane emissions for all three countries are underestimated in the national inventories, largely driven by oil emissions. Anthropogenic methane emissions in the US peak in 2014, in contrast to the report of a steadily decreasing trend over 2010–2017 from the US EPA.
Debora Griffin, Chris A. McLinden, Enrico Dammers, Cristen Adams, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Carsten Warneke, Ilann Bourgeois, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Kyle J. Zarzana, Jake P. Rowe, Rainer Volkamer, Christoph Knote, Natalie Kille, Theodore K. Koenig, Christopher F. Lee, Drew Rollins, Pamela S. Rickly, Jack Chen, Lukas Fehr, Adam Bourassa, Doug Degenstein, Katherine Hayden, Cristian Mihele, Sumi N. Wren, John Liggio, Ayodeji Akingunola, and Paul Makar
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7929–7957, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7929-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7929-2021, 2021
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Satellite-derived NOx emissions from biomass burning are estimated with TROPOMI observations. Two common emission estimation methods are applied, and sensitivity tests with model output were performed to determine the accuracy of these methods. The effect of smoke aerosols on TROPOMI NO2 columns is estimated and compared to aircraft observations from four different aircraft campaigns measuring biomass burning plumes in 2018 and 2019 in North America.
Stefano Galmarini, Paul Makar, Olivia E. Clifton, Christian Hogrefe, Jesse O. Bash, Roberto Bellasio, Roberto Bianconi, Johannes Bieser, Tim Butler, Jason Ducker, Johannes Flemming, Alma Hodzic, Christopher D. Holmes, Ioannis Kioutsioukis, Richard Kranenburg, Aurelia Lupascu, Juan Luis Perez-Camanyo, Jonathan Pleim, Young-Hee Ryu, Roberto San Jose, Donna Schwede, Sam Silva, and Ralf Wolke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15663–15697, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15663-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15663-2021, 2021
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This technical note presents the research protocols for phase 4 of the Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII4). This initiative has three goals: (i) to define the state of wet and dry deposition in regional models, (ii) to evaluate how dry deposition influences air concentration and flux predictions, and (iii) to identify the causes for prediction differences. The evaluation compares LULC-specific dry deposition and effective conductances and fluxes.
Sepehr Fathi, Mark Gordon, Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Andrea Darlington, John Liggio, Katherine Hayden, and Shao-Meng Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15461–15491, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15461-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15461-2021, 2021
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We have investigated the accuracy of aircraft-based mass balance methodologies through computer model simulations of the atmosphere and air quality at a regional high-resolution scale. We have defined new quantitative metrics to reduce emission retrieval uncertainty by evaluating top-down mass balance estimates against the known simulated meteorology and input emissions. We also recommend methodologies and flight strategies for improved retrievals in future aircraft-based studies.
Xinxin Ye, Pargoal Arab, Ravan Ahmadov, Eric James, Georg A. Grell, Bradley Pierce, Aditya Kumar, Paul Makar, Jack Chen, Didier Davignon, Greg R. Carmichael, Gonzalo Ferrada, Jeff McQueen, Jianping Huang, Rajesh Kumar, Louisa Emmons, Farren L. Herron-Thorpe, Mark Parrington, Richard Engelen, Vincent-Henri Peuch, Arlindo da Silva, Amber Soja, Emily Gargulinski, Elizabeth Wiggins, Johnathan W. Hair, Marta Fenn, Taylor Shingler, Shobha Kondragunta, Alexei Lyapustin, Yujie Wang, Brent Holben, David M. Giles, and Pablo E. Saide
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 14427–14469, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14427-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-14427-2021, 2021
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Wildfire smoke has crucial impacts on air quality, while uncertainties in the numerical forecasts remain significant. We present an evaluation of 12 real-time forecasting systems. Comparison of predicted smoke emissions suggests a large spread in magnitudes, with temporal patterns deviating from satellite detections. The performance for AOD and surface PM2.5 and their discrepancies highlighted the role of accurately represented spatiotemporal emission profiles in improving smoke forecasts.
Paul A. Makar, Craig Stroud, Ayodeji Akingunola, Junhua Zhang, Shuzhan Ren, Philip Cheung, and Qiong Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12291–12316, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12291-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12291-2021, 2021
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Vehicle pollutant emissions occur in an environment where upward transport can be enhanced due to the turbulence created by the vehicles as they move through the atmosphere. An approach for including these turbulence effects in regional air pollution forecast models has been derived from theoretical, observation, and higher-resolution modeling. The enhanced mixing, which occurs in the immediate vicinity of roadways, changes pollutant concentrations on the regional to continental scale.
Zhiyong Wu, Leiming Zhang, John T. Walker, Paul A. Makar, Judith A. Perlinger, and Xuemei Wang
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 5093–5105, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5093-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-5093-2021, 2021
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A community dry deposition algorithm for modeling the gaseous dry deposition process in chemistry transport models was extended to include an additional 12 oxidized volatile organic compounds and hydrogen cyanide based on their physicochemical properties and was then evaluated using field flux measurements over a mixed forest. This study provides a useful tool that is needed in chemistry transport models with increasing complexity for simulating an important atmospheric process.
Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Jack Chen, Balbir Pabla, Wanmin Gong, Craig Stroud, Christopher Sioris, Kerry Anderson, Philip Cheung, Junhua Zhang, and Jason Milbrandt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10557–10587, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10557-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10557-2021, 2021
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We have examined the effects of airborne particles on absorption and scattering of incoming sunlight by the particles themselves via cloud formation. We used an advanced, combined high-resolution weather forecast and chemical transport computer model, for western North America, and simulations with and without the connections between particles and weather enabled. Feedbacks improved weather and air pollution forecasts and changed cloud behaviour and forest-fire pollutant amount and height.
Katherine Hayden, Shao-Meng Li, Paul Makar, John Liggio, Samar G. Moussa, Ayodeji Akingunola, Robert McLaren, Ralf M. Staebler, Andrea Darlington, Jason O'Brien, Junhua Zhang, Mengistu Wolde, and Leiming Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 8377–8392, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8377-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8377-2021, 2021
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We developed a method using aircraft measurements to determine lifetimes with respect to dry deposition for oxidized sulfur and nitrogen compounds over the boreal forest in Alberta, Canada. Atmospheric lifetimes were significantly shorter than derived from chemical transport models with differences related to modelled dry deposition velocities. The shorter lifetimes suggest models need to reassess dry deposition treatment and predictions of sulfur and nitrogen in the atmosphere and ecosystems.
Debora Griffin, Christopher Sioris, Jack Chen, Nolan Dickson, Andrew Kovachik, Martin de Graaf, Swadhin Nanda, Pepijn Veefkind, Enrico Dammers, Chris A. McLinden, Paul Makar, and Ayodeji Akingunola
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1427–1445, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1427-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1427-2020, 2020
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This study looks into validating the aerosol layer height product from the recently launched TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) for forest fire plume through comparisons with two other satellite products, and interpreting differences due to the individual measurement techniques. These satellite observations are compared to predicted plume heights from Environment and Climate Change's air quality forecast model.
Cynthia H. Whaley, Elisabeth Galarneau, Paul A. Makar, Michael D. Moran, and Junhua Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 2911–2925, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2911-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2911-2020, 2020
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Benzene and polycyclic aromatic compounds are toxic air pollutants and ubiquitous in the environment. Using a chemical transport model, we have determined the net impact of vehicle emissions on ambient concentrations of these species. Traffic emissions were found to be a significant fraction of ambient pollution in the densely populated modelled region of North America. Our simulations demonstrate the air quality benefits that would result from transitioning to a zero-emission vehicle fleet.
Mark W. Shephard, Enrico Dammers, Karen E. Cady-Pereira, Shailesh K. Kharol, Jesse Thompson, Yonatan Gainariu-Matz, Junhua Zhang, Chris A. McLinden, Andrew Kovachik, Michael Moran, Shabtai Bittman, Christopher E. Sioris, Debora Griffin, Matthew J. Alvarado, Chantelle Lonsdale, Verica Savic-Jovcic, and Qiong Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 2277–2302, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2277-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2277-2020, 2020
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Presented is a description and survey demonstrating the capabilities of the CrIS ammonia product for monitoring, air quality forecast model evaluation, dry deposition estimates, and emission estimates of an agricultural hotspot.
Xiaoyi Zhao, Debora Griffin, Vitali Fioletov, Chris McLinden, Jonathan Davies, Akira Ogyu, Sum Chi Lee, Alexandru Lupu, Michael D. Moran, Alexander Cede, Martin Tiefengraber, and Moritz Müller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10619–10642, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10619-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10619-2019, 2019
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New nitrogen dioxide (NO2) retrieval algorithms are developed for Pandora zenith-sky measurements. A column-to-surface conversion look-up table was produced for the Pandora instruments; therefore, quick and practical Pandora-based surface NO2 concentration data can be obtained for air quality monitoring purposes. It is demonstrated that the surface NO2 concentration is controlled not only by the planetary boundary layer height but also by both boundary layer dynamics and photochemistry.
Jack Chen, Kerry Anderson, Radenko Pavlovic, Michael D. Moran, Peter Englefield, Dan K. Thompson, Rodrigo Munoz-Alpizar, and Hugo Landry
Geosci. Model Dev., 12, 3283–3310, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-3283-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-12-3283-2019, 2019
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Emissions from wildland fires can cause significant impacts on regional air quality. We introduce the Canadian Forest Fire Emissions Prediction System and demonstrate its integration with Canada's FireWork operational air quality forecast system with biomass burning emissions. The coupled system shows improved skill in providing short-term, 48 h forecasts of surface air pollutant concentrations (PM2.5, O3, and NO2) from the impacts of regional wildland fires across the North American domain.
Matthew Russell, Amir Hakami, Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Junhua Zhang, Michael D. Moran, and Qiong Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4393–4417, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4393-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4393-2019, 2019
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High-resolution air-quality forecast modeling results are compared for two different grid spacings for the Environment and Climate Change Canada GEM-MACH model. While the higher-resolution simulations have worse formal error scores, we show that the higher-resolution model nevertheless has the ability to better resolve plume maxima and has better performance when the evaluation occurs using new scoring metrics which operate on an equal-representative-area basis.
Cristen Adams, Chris A. McLinden, Mark W. Shephard, Nolan Dickson, Enrico Dammers, Jack Chen, Paul Makar, Karen E. Cady-Pereira, Naomi Tam, Shailesh K. Kharol, Lok N. Lamsal, and Nickolay A. Krotkov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2577–2599, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2577-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2577-2019, 2019
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We estimated how much carbon monoxide, ammonia, and nitrogen oxides were emitted in the smoke from the Fort McMurray Horse River wildfire using satellite data and air quality models. The fire emitted amounts of carbon monoxide that were similar to anthropogenic (human-caused) emissions for all of Alberta over a full year. We also estimated large amounts of ammonia and nitrogen oxides emitted from the fire. These results can be used to evaluate the performance of air quality forecasting models.
Mark Gordon, Paul A. Makar, Ralf M. Staebler, Junhua Zhang, Ayodeji Akingunola, Wanmin Gong, and Shao-Meng Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14695–14714, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14695-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14695-2018, 2018
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This work uses aircraft-based measurements of smokestack plumes carried out in northern Alberta in 2013. These measurements are used to test equations used to predict how high in the air smokestack plumes rise. It is important to predict plume rise height accurately as it tells us how far downwind pollutants are carried and what air quality can be expected at the surface. We found that the equations that are typically used significantly underestimate the plume rise at this location.
Craig A. Stroud, Paul A. Makar, Junhua Zhang, Michael D. Moran, Ayodeji Akingunola, Shao-Meng Li, Amy Leithead, Katherine Hayden, and May Siu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13531–13545, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13531-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13531-2018, 2018
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It is shown that using measurement-derived volatile organic compound (VOC) and organic aerosol (OA) emissions in the GEM-MACH air quality model provides better overall predictions compared to using bottom-up emission inventories. This work was done to better constrain the fugitive organic emissions from the Athabasca oil sands region, which are a challenge to estimate with bottom-up emission approaches. We use observations from the 2013 Joint Oil Sands Monitoring study.
Junhua Zhang, Michael D. Moran, Qiong Zheng, Paul A. Makar, Pegah Baratzadeh, George Marson, Peter Liu, and Shao-Meng Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10459–10481, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10459-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10459-2018, 2018
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This paper discusses the development of new synthesized emissions inventories and the generation of air quality model-ready emissions files for the Athabasca Oil Sands Region of Alberta, Canada, using multiple emissions inventories, continuous emissions monitoring data, and inferred emission rates based on aircraft measurements. Novel facility-specific gridded spatial surrogate fields were generated to allocate emissions spatially within each huge mining facility.
Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Julian Aherne, Amanda S. Cole, Yayne-abeba Aklilu, Junhua Zhang, Isaac Wong, Katherine Hayden, Shao-Meng Li, Jane Kirk, Ken Scott, Michael D. Moran, Alain Robichaud, Hazel Cathcart, Pegah Baratzedah, Balbir Pabla, Philip Cheung, Qiong Zheng, and Dean S. Jeffries
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9897–9927, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9897-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9897-2018, 2018
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Complex computer model output was compared to and fused with observation data, to estimate potential damage due to acidifying precipitation for ecosystems in the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Estimated deposition was compared to the maximum no-damage ecosystem capacity for sulfur and/or nitrogen uptake; these critical loads were exceeded, for areas between 10 000 and 330 000 square kilometres, depending on ecosystem type: ecosystem damage will occur at 2013 emission levels.
Cynthia H. Whaley, Elisabeth Galarneau, Paul A. Makar, Ayodeji Akingunola, Wanmin Gong, Sylvie Gravel, Michael D. Moran, Craig Stroud, Junhua Zhang, and Qiong Zheng
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 2609–2632, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2609-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2609-2018, 2018
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We present a new, high-resolution, North American model of PAHs and benzene, which are toxic air pollutants that cause a variety of negative health impacts. Our simulation in a densely populated region of Canada and the U.S. shows that the model is improved over a previous model. The new model is particularly refined regarding the gas–particle partitioning of these pollutants, which has impacts on deposition and inhalation. The simulation was sensitive to the selection of vehicle emissions.
Ayodeji Akingunola, Paul A. Makar, Junhua Zhang, Andrea Darlington, Shao-Meng Li, Mark Gordon, Michael D. Moran, and Qiong Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 8667–8688, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8667-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8667-2018, 2018
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We examine the manner in which air-quality models simulate lofting of buoyant plumes of emissions from stacks (plume rise) and the impact of the level of detail in algorithms simulating particles' variation in size (particle size distribution). The most commonly used plume rise algorithm underestimates the height of plumes compared to observations, while a revised algorithm has much better performance. A 12-bin size distribution reduced the forecast 2-bin size distribution bias error by 32 %.
Joana Soares, Paul Andrew Makar, Yayne Aklilu, and Ayodeji Akingunola
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6543–6566, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6543-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6543-2018, 2018
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Grouping data on the basis of (dis)similarity can be used to assess the efficacy of monitoring networks. The data are cross-compared in terms of temporal variation and magnitude of concentrations, and sites are ranked according to their level of potential redundancy. The methodology can be applied to measurement data, helping to identify sites with different measuring technologies or data flaws, and to model output, generating maps of areas of spatial representativeness of a monitoring site.
Stephanie C. Pugliese, Jennifer G. Murphy, Felix R. Vogel, Michael D. Moran, Junhua Zhang, Qiong Zheng, Craig A. Stroud, Shuzhan Ren, Douglas Worthy, and Gregoire Broquet
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 3387–3401, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3387-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3387-2018, 2018
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We developed the Southern Ontario CO2 Emissions (SOCE) inventory, which identifies the spatial and temporal distribution (2.5 km and hourly, respectively) of CO2 emissions from seven source sectors. When the SOCE inventory was used with a chemistry transport model, we found strong agreement between modelled and measured mixing ratios. We were able to quantify that natural gas combustion contributes > 80 % of CO2 emissions at nighttime while on-road emissions contribute > 70 % during the day.
Cynthia H. Whaley, Paul A. Makar, Mark W. Shephard, Leiming Zhang, Junhua Zhang, Qiong Zheng, Ayodeji Akingunola, Gregory R. Wentworth, Jennifer G. Murphy, Shailesh K. Kharol, and Karen E. Cady-Pereira
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 2011–2034, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2011-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2011-2018, 2018
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Using a modified air quality forecasting model, we have found that a significant fraction (> 50 %) of ambient ammonia comes from re-emission from plants and soils in the broader Athabasca Oil Sands region and much of Alberta and Saskatchewan. We also found that about 20 % of ambient ammonia in Alberta and Saskatchewan came from forest fires in the summer of 2013. The addition of these two processes improved modelled ammonia, which was a motivating factor in undertaking this research.
Yuan You, Ralf M. Staebler, Samar G. Moussa, Yushan Su, Tony Munoz, Craig Stroud, Junhua Zhang, and Michael D. Moran
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 14119–14143, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14119-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14119-2017, 2017
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A novel approach for traffic emission measurements is shown to have the capacity to provide high-time-resolution accurate concentrations of key air pollutants. A top-down method for quantifying real-world emission rates produced vehicular emission factor estimates for carbon monoxide that agreed well with bottom-up values. Significant ammonia and hydrogen cyanide emissions were observed. The main factors modulating the concentrations were turbulent mixing and traffic density.
Vitali Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Shailesh K. Kharol, Nickolay A. Krotkov, Can Li, Joanna Joiner, Michael D. Moran, Robert Vet, Antoon J. H. Visschedijk, and Hugo A. C. Denier van der Gon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12597–12616, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12597-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12597-2017, 2017
Andrew D. Teakles, Rita So, Bruce Ainslie, Robert Nissen, Corinne Schiller, Roxanne Vingarzan, Ian McKendry, Anne Marie Macdonald, Daniel A. Jaffe, Allan K. Bertram, Kevin B. Strawbridge, W. Richard Leaitch, Sarah Hanna, Desiree Toom, Jonathan Baik, and Lin Huang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 2593–2611, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2593-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2593-2017, 2017
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We present a case study of an intense wildfire smoke plume from Siberia that affected the air quality across the Pacific Northwest on 6–10 July 2012. The transport, entrainment, and chemical composition of the plume are examined to characterize the event. Ambient O3 and PM2.5 from surface monitoring is contrast to modelled baseline air quality estimates to show the overall contribution of the plume to exceedances in O3 and PM2.5 air quality standards and objectives that occurred.
Vitali E. Fioletov, Chris A. McLinden, Nickolay Krotkov, Can Li, Joanna Joiner, Nicolas Theys, Simon Carn, and Mike D. Moran
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11497–11519, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11497-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11497-2016, 2016
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We introduce the first space-based catalogue of SO2 emission sources seen by OMI. The inventory contains about 500 sources. They account for about a half of all SO2 emissions; the remaining half is likely related to sources emitting less than 30 kt yr−1 and not detected by OMI. The sources are grouped by type (volcanoes, power plants, oil- and gas-related sources, and smelters) and country. The catalogue presented herein can be used for verification of available SO2 emission inventories.
M. W. Shephard, C. A. McLinden, K. E. Cady-Pereira, M. Luo, S. G. Moussa, A. Leithead, J. Liggio, R. M. Staebler, A. Akingunola, P. Makar, P. Lehr, J. Zhang, D. K. Henze, D. B. Millet, J. O. Bash, L. Zhu, K. C. Wells, S. L. Capps, S. Chaliyakunnel, M. Gordon, K. Hayden, J. R. Brook, M. Wolde, and S.-M. Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 5189–5211, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5189-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-5189-2015, 2015
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This study provides direct validations of Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer (TES) satellite retrieved profiles against coincident aircraft profiles of carbon monoxide, ammonia, methanol, and formic acid, all of which are of interest for air quality. The comparisons are performed over the Canadian oil sands region during an intensive field campaign in support of the Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan for the Oil Sands Monitoring (JOSM). Initial model evaluations are also provided.
M. Gordon, A. Vlasenko, R. M. Staebler, C. Stroud, P. A. Makar, J. Liggio, S.-M. Li, and S. Brown
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 9087–9097, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9087-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9087-2014, 2014
D. Wen, L. Zhang, J. C. Lin, R. Vet, and M. D. Moran
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 1037–1050, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1037-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-1037-2014, 2014
X. Wang, L. Zhang, and M. D. Moran
Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 799–819, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-799-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-799-2014, 2014
E. Galarneau, P. A. Makar, Q. Zheng, J. Narayan, J. Zhang, M. D. Moran, M. A. Bari, S. Pathela, A. Chen, and R. Chlumsky
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 4065–4077, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-4065-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-4065-2014, 2014
C. A. McLinden, V. Fioletov, K. F. Boersma, S. K. Kharol, N. Krotkov, L. Lamsal, P. A. Makar, R. V. Martin, J. P. Veefkind, and K. Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3637–3656, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3637-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3637-2014, 2014
J. R. Brook, P. A. Makar, D. M. L. Sills, K. L. Hayden, and R. McLaren
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 10461–10482, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10461-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10461-2013, 2013
L. Zhang, X. Wang, M. D. Moran, and J. Feng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 10005–10025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10005-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10005-2013, 2013
E. Solazzo, R. Bianconi, G. Pirovano, M. D. Moran, R. Vautard, C. Hogrefe, K. W. Appel, V. Matthias, P. Grossi, B. Bessagnet, J. Brandt, C. Chemel, J. H. Christensen, R. Forkel, X. V. Francis, A. B. Hansen, S. McKeen, U. Nopmongcol, M. Prank, K. N. Sartelet, A. Segers, J. D. Silver, G. Yarwood, J. Werhahn, J. Zhang, S. T. Rao, and S. Galmarini
Geosci. Model Dev., 6, 791–818, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-791-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-791-2013, 2013
D. Wen, J. C. Lin, L. Zhang, R. Vet, and M. D. Moran
Geosci. Model Dev., 6, 327–344, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-327-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-6-327-2013, 2013
C. R. Lonsdale, R. G. Stevens, C. A. Brock, P. A. Makar, E. M. Knipping, and J. R. Pierce
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 11519–11531, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-11519-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-11519-2012, 2012
Related subject area
Atmospheric sciences
Can TROPOMI NO2 satellite data be used to track the drop in and resurgence of NOx emissions in Germany between 2019–2021 using the multi-source plume method (MSPM)?
A spatiotemporally separated framework for reconstructing the sources of atmospheric radionuclide releases
A parameterization scheme for the floating wind farm in a coupled atmosphere–wave model (COAWST v3.7)
RoadSurf 1.1: open-source road weather model library
Calibrating and validating the Integrated Valuation of Ecosystem Services and Tradeoffs (InVEST) urban cooling model: case studies in France and the United States
The ddeq Python library for point source quantification from remote sensing images (version 1.0)
Incorporating Oxygen Isotopes of Oxidized Reactive Nitrogen in the Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism, version 2 (ICOIN-RACM2)
A general comprehensive evaluation method for cross-scale precipitation forecasts
Implementation of a Simple Actuator Disk for Large-Eddy Simulation in the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF-SADLES v1.2) for wind turbine wake simulation
WRF-PDAF v1.0: implementation and application of an online localized ensemble data assimilation framework
Implementation and evaluation of diabatic advection in the Lagrangian transport model MPTRAC 2.6
An improved and extended parameterization of the CO2 15 µm cooling in the middle and upper atmosphere (CO2_cool_fort-1.0)
Development of a multiphase chemical mechanism to improve secondary organic aerosol formation in CAABA/MECCA (version 4.7.0)
Application of regional meteorology and air quality models based on the microprocessor without interlocked piped stages (MIPS) and LoongArch CPU platforms
Investigating ground-level ozone pollution in semi-arid and arid regions of Arizona using WRF-Chem v4.4 modeling
An objective identification technique for potential vorticity structures associated with African easterly waves
Importance of microphysical settings for climate forcing by stratospheric SO2 injections as modeled by SOCOL-AERv2
Assessment of surface ozone products from downscaled CAMS reanalysis and CAMS daily forecast using urban air quality monitoring stations in Iran
Open boundary conditions for atmospheric large-eddy simulations and their implementation in DALES4.4
Efficient and stable coupling of the SuperdropNet deep-learning-based cloud microphysics (v0.1.0) with the ICON climate and weather model (v2.6.5)
Three-dimensional variational assimilation with a multivariate background error covariance for the Model for Prediction Across Scales – Atmosphere with the Joint Effort for Data assimilation Integration (JEDI-MPAS 2.0.0-beta)
FUME 2.0 – Flexible Universal processor for Modeling Emissions
DEUCE v1.0: a neural network for probabilistic precipitation nowcasting with aleatoric and epistemic uncertainties
Evaluation of multi-season convection-permitting atmosphere – mixed-layer ocean simulations of the Maritime Continent
Investigating the impact of coupling HARMONIE-WINS50 (cy43) meteorology to LOTOS-EUROS (v2.2.002) on a simulation of NO2 concentrations over the Netherlands
Balloon drift estimation and improved position estimates for radiosondes
Emission ensemble approach to improve the development of multi-scale emission inventories
What is the relative impact of nudging and online coupling on meteorological variables, pollutant concentrations and aerosol optical properties?
Diagnosing drivers of PM2.5 simulation biases in China from meteorology, chemical composition, and emission sources using an efficient machine learning method
Validation and analysis of the Polair3D v1.11 chemical transport model over Quebec
Assimilation of GNSS tropospheric gradients into the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model version 4.4.1
Identifying atmospheric rivers and their poleward latent heat transport with generalizable neural networks: ARCNNv1
Assessing acetone for the GISS ModelE2.1 Earth system model
Bergen metrics: composite error metrics for assessing performance of climate models using EURO-CORDEX simulations
A dynamic approach to three-dimensional radiative transfer in subkilometer-scale numerical weather prediction models: the dynamic TenStream solver v1.0
Evaluation and development of surface layer scheme representation of temperature inversions over boreal forests in Arctic wintertime conditions
Modelling wind farm effects in HARMONIE–AROME (cycle 43.2.2) – Part 1: Implementation and evaluation
Analytical and adaptable initial conditions for dry and moist baroclinic waves in the global hydrostatic model OpenIFS (CY43R3)
Challenges of constructing and selecting the “perfect” boundary conditions for the large-eddy simulation model PALM
A machine learning approach for evaluating Southern Ocean cloud radiative biases in a global atmosphere model
Decision Support System version 1.0 (DSS v1.0) for air quality management in Delhi, India
How non-equilibrium aerosol chemistry impacts particle acidity: the GMXe AERosol CHEMistry (GMXe–AERCHEM, v1.0) sub-submodel of MESSy
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MEXPLORER 1.0.0 – a mechanism explorer for analysis and visualization of chemical reaction pathways based on graph theory
Evaluating CHASER V4.0 global formaldehyde (HCHO) simulations using satellite, aircraft, and ground-based remote sensing observations
Advances and prospects of deep learning for medium-range extreme weather forecasting
An overview of the Western United States Dynamically Downscaled Dataset (WUS-D3)
cloudbandPy 1.0: an automated algorithm for the detection of tropical–extratropical cloud bands
PyRTlib: an educational Python-based library for non-scattering atmospheric microwave radiative transfer computations
TAMS: A Tracking, Classifying, and Variable-Assigning Algorithm for Mesoscale Convective Systems in Simulated and Satellite-Derived Datasets
Enrico Dammers, Janot Tokaya, Christian Mielke, Kevin Hausmann, Debora Griffin, Chris McLinden, Henk Eskes, and Renske Timmermans
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4983–5007, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4983-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4983-2024, 2024
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Nitrogen dioxide (NOx) is produced by sources such as industry and traffic and is directly linked to negative impacts on health and the environment. The current construction of emission inventories to keep track of NOx emissions is slow and time-consuming. Satellite measurements provide a way to quickly and independently estimate emissions. In this study, we apply a consistent methodology to derive NOx emissions over Germany and illustrate the value of having such a method for fast projections.
Yuhan Xu, Sheng Fang, Xinwen Dong, and Shuhan Zhuang
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4961–4982, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4961-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4961-2024, 2024
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Recent atmospheric radionuclide leakages from unknown sources have posed a new challenge in nuclear emergency assessment. Reconstruction via environmental observations is the only feasible way to identify sources, but simultaneous reconstruction of the source location and release rate yields high uncertainties. We propose a spatiotemporally separated reconstruction strategy that avoids these uncertainties and outperforms state-of-the-art methods with respect to accuracy and uncertainty ranges.
Shaokun Deng, Shengmu Yang, Shengli Chen, Daoyi Chen, Xuefeng Yang, and Shanshan Cui
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4891–4909, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4891-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4891-2024, 2024
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Global offshore wind power development is moving from offshore to deeper waters, where floating offshore wind turbines have an advantage over bottom-fixed turbines. However, current wind farm parameterization schemes in mesoscale models are not applicable to floating turbines. We propose a floating wind farm parameterization scheme that accounts for the attenuation of the significant wave height by floating turbines. The results indicate that it has a significant effect on the power output.
Virve Eveliina Karsisto
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4837–4853, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4837-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4837-2024, 2024
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RoadSurf is an open-source library that contains functions from the Finnish Meteorological Institute’s road weather model. The evaluation of the library shows that it is well suited for making road surface temperature forecasts. The evaluation was done by making forecasts for about 400 road weather stations in Finland with the library. Accurate forecasts help road authorities perform salting and plowing operations at the right time and keep roads safe for drivers.
Perrine Hamel, Martí Bosch, Léa Tardieu, Aude Lemonsu, Cécile de Munck, Chris Nootenboom, Vincent Viguié, Eric Lonsdorf, James A. Douglass, and Richard P. Sharp
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4755–4771, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4755-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4755-2024, 2024
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The InVEST Urban Cooling model estimates the cooling effect of vegetation in cities. We further developed an algorithm to facilitate model calibration and evaluation. Applying the algorithm to case studies in France and in the United States, we found that nighttime air temperature estimates compare well with reference datasets. Estimated change in temperature from a land cover scenario compares well with an alternative model estimate, supporting the use of the model for urban planning decisions.
Gerrit Kuhlmann, Erik Koene, Sandro Meier, Diego Santaren, Grégoire Broquet, Frédéric Chevallier, Janne Hakkarainen, Janne Nurmela, Laia Amorós, Johanna Tamminen, and Dominik Brunner
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4773–4789, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4773-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4773-2024, 2024
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We present a Python software library for data-driven emission quantification (ddeq). It can be used to determine the emissions of hot spots (cities, power plants and industry) from remote sensing images using different methods. ddeq can be extended for new datasets and methods, providing a powerful community tool for users and developers. The application of the methods is shown using Jupyter notebooks included in the library.
Wendell W. Walters, Masayuki Takeuchi, Nga L. Ng, and Meredith G. Hastings
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4673–4687, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4673-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4673-2024, 2024
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The study introduces a novel chemical mechanism for explicitly tracking oxygen isotope transfer in oxidized reactive nitrogen and odd oxygen using the Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism, version 2. This model enhances our ability to simulate and compare oxygen isotope compositions of reactive nitrogen, revealing insights into oxidation chemistry. The approach shows promise for improving atmospheric chemistry models and tropospheric oxidation capacity predictions.
Bing Zhang, Mingjian Zeng, Anning Huang, Zhengkun Qin, Couhua Liu, Wenru Shi, Xin Li, Kefeng Zhu, Chunlei Gu, and Jialing Zhou
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4579–4601, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4579-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4579-2024, 2024
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By directly analyzing the proximity of precipitation forecasts and observations, a precipitation accuracy score (PAS) method was constructed. This method does not utilize a traditional contingency-table-based classification verification; however, it can replace the threat score (TS), equitable threat score (ETS), and other skill score methods, and it can be used to calculate the accuracy of numerical models or quantitative precipitation forecasts.
Hai Bui, Mostafa Bakhoday-Paskyabi, and Mohammadreza Mohammadpour-Penchah
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4447–4465, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4447-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4447-2024, 2024
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We developed a new wind turbine wake model, the Simple Actuator Disc for Large Eddy Simulation (SADLES), integrated with the widely used Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. WRF-SADLES accurately simulates wind turbine wakes at resolutions of a few dozen meters, aligning well with idealized simulations and observational measurements. This makes WRF-SADLES a promising tool for wind energy research, offering a balance between accuracy, computational efficiency, and ease of implementation.
Changliang Shao and Lars Nerger
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4433–4445, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4433-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4433-2024, 2024
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This paper introduces and evaluates WRF-PDAF, a fully online-coupled ensemble data assimilation (DA) system. A key advantage of the WRF-PDAF configuration is its ability to concurrently integrate all ensemble states, eliminating the need for time-consuming distribution and collection of ensembles during the coupling communication. The extra time required for DA amounts to only 20.6 % per cycle. Twin experiment results underscore the effectiveness of the WRF-PDAF system.
Jan Clemens, Lars Hoffmann, Bärbel Vogel, Sabine Grießbach, and Nicole Thomas
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4467–4493, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4467-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4467-2024, 2024
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Lagrangian transport models simulate the transport of air masses in the atmosphere. For example, one model (CLaMS) is well suited to calculating transport as it uses a special coordinate system and special vertical wind. However, it only runs inefficiently on modern supercomputers. Hence, we have implemented the benefits of CLaMS into a new model (MPTRAC), which is already highly efficient on modern supercomputers. Finally, in extensive tests, we showed that CLaMS and MPTRAC agree very well.
Manuel López-Puertas, Federico Fabiano, Victor Fomichev, Bernd Funke, and Daniel R. Marsh
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4401–4432, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4401-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4401-2024, 2024
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The radiative infrared cooling of CO2 in the middle atmosphere is crucial for computing its thermal structure. It requires one however to include non-local thermodynamic equilibrium processes which are computationally very expensive, which cannot be afforded by climate models. In this work, we present an updated, efficient, accurate and very fast (~50 µs) parameterization of that cooling able to cope with CO2 abundances from half the pre-industrial values to 10 times the current abundance.
Felix Wieser, Rolf Sander, Changmin Cho, Hendrik Fuchs, Thorsten Hohaus, Anna Novelli, Ralf Tillmann, and Domenico Taraborrelli
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4311–4330, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4311-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4311-2024, 2024
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The chemistry scheme of the atmospheric box model CAABA/MECCA is expanded to achieve an improved aerosol formation from emitted organic compounds. In addition to newly added reactions, temperature-dependent partitioning of all new species between the gas and aqueous phases is estimated and included in the pre-existing scheme. Sensitivity runs show an overestimation of key compounds from isoprene, which can be explained by a lack of aqueous-phase degradation reactions and box model limitations.
Zehua Bai, Qizhong Wu, Kai Cao, Yiming Sun, and Huaqiong Cheng
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4383–4399, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4383-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4383-2024, 2024
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There is relatively limited research on the application of scientific computing on RISC CPU platforms. The MIPS architecture CPUs, a type of RISC CPUs, have distinct advantages in energy efficiency and scalability. The air quality modeling system can run stably on the MIPS and LoongArch platforms, and the experiment results verify the stability of scientific computing on the platforms. The work provides a technical foundation for the scientific application based on MIPS and LoongArch.
Yafang Guo, Chayan Roychoudhury, Mohammad Amin Mirrezaei, Rajesh Kumar, Armin Sorooshian, and Avelino F. Arellano
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4331–4353, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4331-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4331-2024, 2024
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This research focuses on surface ozone (O3) pollution in Arizona, a historically air-quality-challenged arid and semi-arid region in the US. The unique characteristics of this kind of region, e.g., intense heat, minimal moisture, and persistent desert shrubs, play a vital role in comprehending O3 exceedances. Using the WRF-Chem model, we analyzed O3 levels in the pre-monsoon month, revealing the model's skill in capturing diurnal and MDA8 O3 levels.
Christoph Fischer, Andreas H. Fink, Elmar Schömer, Marc Rautenhaus, and Michael Riemer
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4213–4228, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4213-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4213-2024, 2024
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This study presents a method for identifying and tracking 3-D potential vorticity structures within African easterly waves (AEWs). Each identified structure is characterized by descriptors, including its 3-D position and orientation, which have been validated through composite comparisons. A trough-centric perspective on the descriptors reveals the evolution and distinct characteristics of AEWs. These descriptors serve as valuable statistical inputs for the study of AEW-related phenomena.
Sandro Vattioni, Andrea Stenke, Beiping Luo, Gabriel Chiodo, Timofei Sukhodolov, Elia Wunderlin, and Thomas Peter
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4181–4197, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4181-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4181-2024, 2024
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We investigate the sensitivity of aerosol size distributions in the presence of strong SO2 injections for climate interventions or after volcanic eruptions to the call sequence and frequency of the routines for nucleation and condensation in sectional aerosol models with operator splitting. Using the aerosol–chemistry–climate model SOCOL-AERv2, we show that the radiative and chemical outputs are sensitive to these settings at high H2SO4 supersaturations and how to obtain reliable results.
Najmeh Kaffashzadeh and Abbas-Ali Aliakbari Bidokhti
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4155–4179, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4155-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4155-2024, 2024
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This paper assesses the capability of two state-of-the-art global datasets in simulating surface ozone over Iran using a new methodology. It is found that the global model data need to be downscaled for regulatory purposes or policy applications at local scales. The method can be useful not only for the evaluation but also for the prediction of other chemical species, such as aerosols.
Franciscus Liqui Lung, Christian Jakob, A. Pier Siebesma, and Fredrik Jansson
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4053–4076, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4053-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4053-2024, 2024
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Traditionally, high-resolution atmospheric models employ periodic boundary conditions, which limit simulations to domains without horizontal variations. In this research open boundary conditions are developed to replace the periodic boundary conditions. The implementation is tested in a controlled setup, and the results show minimal disturbances. Using these boundary conditions, high-resolution models can be forced by a coarser model to study atmospheric phenomena in realistic background states.
Caroline Arnold, Shivani Sharma, Tobias Weigel, and David S. Greenberg
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4017–4029, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4017-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4017-2024, 2024
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In atmospheric models, rain formation is simplified to be computationally efficient. We trained a machine learning model, SuperdropNet, to emulate warm-rain formation based on super-droplet simulations. Here, we couple SuperdropNet with an atmospheric model in a warm-bubble experiment and find that the coupled simulation runs stable and produces reasonable results, making SuperdropNet a viable ML proxy for droplet simulations. We also present a comprehensive benchmark for coupling architectures.
Byoung-Joo Jung, Benjamin Ménétrier, Chris Snyder, Zhiquan Liu, Jonathan J. Guerrette, Junmei Ban, Ivette Hernández Baños, Yonggang G. Yu, and William C. Skamarock
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3879–3895, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3879-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3879-2024, 2024
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We describe the multivariate static background error covariance (B) for the JEDI-MPAS 3D-Var data assimilation system. With tuned B parameters, the multivariate B gives physically balanced analysis increment fields in the single-observation test framework. In the month-long cycling experiment with a global 60 km mesh, 3D-Var with static B performs stably. Due to its simple workflow and minimal computational requirements, JEDI-MPAS 3D-Var can be useful for the research community.
Michal Belda, Nina Benešová, Jaroslav Resler, Peter Huszár, Ondřej Vlček, Pavel Krč, Jan Karlický, Pavel Juruš, and Kryštof Eben
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3867–3878, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3867-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3867-2024, 2024
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For modeling atmospheric chemistry, it is necessary to provide data on emissions of pollutants. These can come from various sources and in various forms, and preprocessing of the data to be ingestible by chemistry models can be quite challenging. We developed the FUME processor to use a database layer that internally transforms all input data into a rigid structure, facilitating further processing to allow for emission processing from the continental to the street scale.
Bent Harnist, Seppo Pulkkinen, and Terhi Mäkinen
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3839–3866, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3839-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3839-2024, 2024
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Probabilistic precipitation nowcasting (local forecasting for 0–6 h) is crucial for reducing damage from events like flash floods. For this goal, we propose the DEUCE neural-network-based model which uses data and model uncertainties to generate an ensemble of potential precipitation development scenarios for the next hour. Trained and evaluated with Finnish precipitation composites, DEUCE was found to produce more skillful and reliable nowcasts than established models.
Emma Howard, Steven Woolnough, Nicholas Klingaman, Daniel Shipley, Claudio Sanchez, Simon C. Peatman, Cathryn E. Birch, and Adrian J. Matthews
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3815–3837, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3815-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3815-2024, 2024
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This paper describes a coupled atmosphere–mixed-layer ocean simulation setup that will be used to study weather processes in Southeast Asia. The set-up has been used to compare high-resolution simulations, which are able to partially resolve storms, to coarser simulations, which cannot. We compare the model performance at representing variability of rainfall and sea surface temperatures across length scales between the coarse and fine models.
Andrés Yarce Botero, Michiel van Weele, Arjo Segers, Pier Siebesma, and Henk Eskes
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3765–3781, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3765-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3765-2024, 2024
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HARMONIE WINS50 reanalysis data with 0.025° × 0.025° resolution from 2019 to 2021 were coupled with the LOTOS-EUROS Chemical Transport Model. HARMONIE and ECMWF meteorology configurations against Cabauw observations (52.0° N, 4.9° W) were evaluated as simulated NO2 concentrations with ground-level sensors. Differences in crucial meteorological input parameters (boundary layer height, vertical diffusion coefficient) between the hydrostatic and non-hydrostatic models were analysed.
Ulrich Voggenberger, Leopold Haimberger, Federico Ambrogi, and Paul Poli
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3783–3799, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3783-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3783-2024, 2024
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This paper presents a method for calculating balloon drift from historical radiosonde ascent data. The drift can reach distances of several hundred kilometres and is often neglected. Verification shows the beneficial impact of the more accurate balloon position on model assimilation. The method is not limited to radiosondes but would also work for dropsondes, ozonesondes, or any other in situ sonde carried by the wind in the pre-GNSS era, provided the necessary information is available.
Philippe Thunis, Jeroen Kuenen, Enrico Pisoni, Bertrand Bessagnet, Manjola Banja, Lech Gawuc, Karol Szymankiewicz, Diego Guizardi, Monica Crippa, Susana Lopez-Aparicio, Marc Guevara, Alexander De Meij, Sabine Schindlbacher, and Alain Clappier
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3631–3643, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3631-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3631-2024, 2024
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An ensemble emission inventory is created with the aim of monitoring the status and progress made with the development of EU-wide inventories. This emission ensemble serves as a common benchmark for the screening and allows for the comparison of more than two inventories at a time. Because the emission “truth” is unknown, the approach does not tell which inventory is the closest to reality, but it identifies inconsistencies that require special attention.
Laurent Menut, Bertrand Bessagnet, Arineh Cholakian, Guillaume Siour, Sylvain Mailler, and Romain Pennel
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3645–3665, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3645-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3645-2024, 2024
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This study is about the modelling of the atmospheric composition in Europe during the summer of 2022, when massive wildfires were observed. It is a sensitivity study dedicated to the relative impacts of two modelling processes that are able to modify the meteorology used for the calculation of the atmospheric chemistry and transport of pollutants.
Shuai Wang, Mengyuan Zhang, Yueqi Gao, Peng Wang, Qingyan Fu, and Hongliang Zhang
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3617–3629, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3617-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3617-2024, 2024
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Numerical models are widely used in air pollution modeling but suffer from significant biases. The machine learning model designed in this study shows high efficiency in identifying such biases. Meteorology (relative humidity and cloud cover), chemical composition (secondary organic components and dust aerosols), and emission sources (residential activities) are diagnosed as the main drivers of bias in modeling PM2.5, a typical air pollutant. The results will help to improve numerical models.
Shoma Yamanouchi, Shayamilla Mahagammulla Gamage, Sara Torbatian, Jad Zalzal, Laura Minet, Audrey Smargiassi, Ying Liu, Ling Liu, Forood Azargoshasbi, Jinwoong Kim, Youngseob Kim, Daniel Yazgi, and Marianne Hatzopoulou
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3579–3597, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3579-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3579-2024, 2024
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Air pollution is a major health hazard, and chemical transport models (CTMs) are valuable tools that aid in our understanding of the risks of air pollution at both local and regional scales. In this study, the Polair3D CTM of the Polyphemus air quality modeling platform was set up over Quebec, Canada, to assess the model’s capability in predicting key air pollutant species over the region, at seasonal temporal scales and at regional spatial scales.
Rohith Thundathil, Florian Zus, Galina Dick, and Jens Wickert
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3599–3616, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3599-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3599-2024, 2024
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Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) provides moisture observations through its densely distributed ground station network. In this research, we assimilate a new type of observation called tropospheric gradient observations, which has never been incorporated into a weather model. We develop a forward operator for gradient-based observations and conduct an assimilation impact study. The study shows significant improvements in the model's humidity fields.
Ankur Mahesh, Travis A. O'Brien, Burlen Loring, Abdelrahman Elbashandy, William Boos, and William D. Collins
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3533–3557, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3533-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3533-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric rivers (ARs) are extreme weather events that can alleviate drought or cause billions of US dollars in flood damage. We train convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to detect ARs with an estimate of the uncertainty. We present a framework to generalize these CNNs to a variety of datasets of past, present, and future climate. Using a simplified simulation of the Earth's atmosphere, we validate the CNNs. We explore the role of ARs in maintaining energy balance in the Earth system.
Alexandra Rivera, Kostas Tsigaridis, Gregory Faluvegi, and Drew Shindell
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3487–3505, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3487-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3487-2024, 2024
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This paper describes and evaluates an improvement to the representation of acetone in the GISS ModelE2.1 Earth system model. We simulate acetone's concentration and transport across the atmosphere as well as its dependence on chemistry, the ocean, and various global emissions. Comparisons of our model’s estimates to past modeling studies and field measurements have shown encouraging results. Ultimately, this paper contributes to a broader understanding of acetone's role in the atmosphere.
Alok K. Samantaray, Priscilla A. Mooney, and Carla A. Vivacqua
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3321–3339, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3321-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3321-2024, 2024
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Any interpretation of climate model data requires a comprehensive evaluation of the model performance. Numerous error metrics exist for this purpose, and each focuses on a specific aspect of the relationship between reference and model data. Thus, a comprehensive evaluation demands the use of multiple error metrics. However, this can lead to confusion. We propose a clustering technique to reduce the number of error metrics needed and a composite error metric to simplify the interpretation.
Richard Maier, Fabian Jakub, Claudia Emde, Mihail Manev, Aiko Voigt, and Bernhard Mayer
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3357–3383, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3357-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3357-2024, 2024
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Based on the TenStream solver, we present a new method to accelerate 3D radiative transfer towards the speed of currently used 1D solvers. Using a shallow-cumulus-cloud time series, we evaluate the performance of this new solver in terms of both speed and accuracy. Compared to a 3D benchmark simulation, we show that our new solver is able to determine much more accurate irradiances and heating rates than a 1D δ-Eddington solver, even when operated with a similar computational demand.
Julia Maillard, Jean-Christophe Raut, and François Ravetta
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 3303–3320, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3303-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-3303-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric models struggle to reproduce the strong temperature inversions in the vicinity of the surface over forested areas in the Arctic winter. In this paper, we develop modified simplified versions of surface layer schemes widely used by the community. Our modifications are used to correct the fact that original schemes place strong limits on the turbulent collapse, leading to a lower surface temperature gradient at low wind speeds. Modified versions show a better performance.
Jana Fischereit, Henrik Vedel, Xiaoli Guo Larsén, Natalie E. Theeuwes, Gregor Giebel, and Eigil Kaas
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2855–2875, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2855-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2855-2024, 2024
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Wind farms impact local wind and turbulence. To incorporate these effects in weather forecasting, the explicit wake parameterization (EWP) is added to the forecasting model HARMONIE–AROME. We evaluate EWP using flight data above and downstream of wind farms, comparing it with an alternative wind farm parameterization and another weather model. Results affirm the correct implementation of EWP, emphasizing the necessity of accounting for wind farm effects in accurate weather forecasting.
Clément Bouvier, Daan van den Broek, Madeleine Ekblom, and Victoria A. Sinclair
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2961–2986, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2961-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2961-2024, 2024
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An analytical initial background state has been developed for moist baroclinic wave simulation on an aquaplanet and implemented into OpenIFS. Seven parameters can be controlled, which are used to generate the background states and the development of baroclinic waves. The meteorological and numerical stability has been assessed. Resulting baroclinic waves have proven to be realistic and sensitive to the jet's width.
Jelena Radović, Michal Belda, Jaroslav Resler, Kryštof Eben, Martin Bureš, Jan Geletič, Pavel Krč, Hynek Řezníček, and Vladimír Fuka
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2901–2927, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2901-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2901-2024, 2024
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Boundary conditions are of crucial importance for numerical model (e.g., PALM) validation studies and have a large influence on the model results, especially when studying the atmosphere of real, complex, and densely built urban environments. Our experiments with different driving conditions for the large-eddy simulation model PALM show its strong dependency on boundary conditions, which is important for the proper separation of errors coming from the boundary conditions and the model itself.
Sonya L. Fiddes, Marc D. Mallet, Alain Protat, Matthew T. Woodhouse, Simon P. Alexander, and Kalli Furtado
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2641–2662, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2641-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2641-2024, 2024
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In this study we present an evaluation that considers complex, non-linear systems in a holistic manner. This study uses XGBoost, a machine learning algorithm, to predict the simulated Southern Ocean shortwave radiation bias in the ACCESS model using cloud property biases as predictors. We then used a novel feature importance analysis to quantify the role that each cloud bias plays in predicting the radiative bias, laying the foundation for advanced Earth system model evaluation and development.
Gaurav Govardhan, Sachin D. Ghude, Rajesh Kumar, Sumit Sharma, Preeti Gunwani, Chinmay Jena, Prafull Yadav, Shubhangi Ingle, Sreyashi Debnath, Pooja Pawar, Prodip Acharja, Rajmal Jat, Gayatry Kalita, Rupal Ambulkar, Santosh Kulkarni, Akshara Kaginalkar, Vijay K. Soni, Ravi S. Nanjundiah, and Madhavan Rajeevan
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2617–2640, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2617-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2617-2024, 2024
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A newly developed air quality forecasting framework, Decision Support System (DSS), for air quality management in Delhi, India, provides source attribution with numerous emission reduction scenarios besides forecasts. DSS shows that during post-monsoon and winter seasons, Delhi and its neighboring districts contribute to 30 %–40 % each to pollution in Delhi. On average, a 40 % reduction in the emissions in Delhi and the surrounding districts would result in a 24 % reduction in Delhi's pollution.
Simon Rosanka, Holger Tost, Rolf Sander, Patrick Jöckel, Astrid Kerkweg, and Domenico Taraborrelli
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2597–2615, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2597-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2597-2024, 2024
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The capabilities of the Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) are extended to account for non-equilibrium aqueous-phase chemistry in the representation of deliquescent aerosols. When applying the new development in a global simulation, we find that MESSy's bias in modelling routinely observed reduced inorganic aerosol mass concentrations, especially in the United States. Furthermore, the representation of fine-aerosol pH is particularly improved in the marine boundary layer.
Junyu Li, Yuxin Wang, Lilong Liu, Yibin Yao, Liangke Huang, and Feijuan Li
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2569–2581, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2569-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2569-2024, 2024
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In this study, we have developed a model (RF-PWV) to characterize precipitable water vapor (PWV) variation with altitude in the study area. RF-PWV can significantly reduce errors in vertical correction, enhance PWV fusion product accuracy, and provide insights into PWV vertical distribution, thereby contributing to climate research.
Rolf Sander
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2419–2425, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2419-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2419-2024, 2024
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The open-source software MEXPLORER 1.0.0 is presented here. The program can be used to analyze, reduce, and visualize complex chemical reaction mechanisms. The mathematics behind the tool is based on graph theory: chemical species are represented as vertices, and reactions as edges. MEXPLORER is a community model published under the GNU General Public License.
Hossain Mohammed Syedul Hoque, Kengo Sudo, Hitoshi Irie, Yanfeng He, and Md Firoz Khan
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.169903618.82717612/v2, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.169903618.82717612/v2, 2024
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Using multi-platform observations, we validated global formaldehyde (HCHO) simulations from a chemistry transport model. HCHO is a crucial intermediate of the chemical catalytic cycle that governs the ozone formation in the troposphere. The model was capable of replicating the observed spatiotemporal variability in HCHO. In a few cases, the model capability was limited. This is attributed to the uncertainties in the observations and the model parameters.
Leonardo Olivetti and Gabriele Messori
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2347–2358, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2347-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2347-2024, 2024
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In the last decades, weather forecasting up to 15 d into the future has been dominated by physics-based numerical models. Recently, deep learning models have challenged this paradigm. However, the latter models may struggle when forecasting weather extremes. In this article, we argue for deep learning models specifically designed to handle extreme events, and we propose a foundational framework to develop such models.
Stefan Rahimi, Lei Huang, Jesse Norris, Alex Hall, Naomi Goldenson, Will Krantz, Benjamin Bass, Chad Thackeray, Henry Lin, Di Chen, Eli Dennis, Ethan Collins, Zachary J. Lebo, Emily Slinskey, Sara Graves, Surabhi Biyani, Bowen Wang, Stephen Cropper, and the UCLA Center for Climate Science Team
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2265–2286, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2265-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2265-2024, 2024
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Here, we project future climate across the western United States through the end of the 21st century using a regional climate model, embedded within 16 latest-generation global climate models, to provide the community with a high-resolution physically based ensemble of climate data for use at local scales. Strengths and weaknesses of the data are frankly discussed as we overview the downscaled dataset.
Romain Pilon and Daniela I. V. Domeisen
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2247–2264, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2247-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2247-2024, 2024
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This paper introduces a new method for detecting atmospheric cloud bands to identify long convective cloud bands that extend from the tropics to the midlatitudes. The algorithm allows for easy use and enables researchers to study the life cycle and climatology of cloud bands and associated rainfall. This method provides insights into the large-scale processes involved in cloud band formation and their connections between different regions, as well as differences across ocean basins.
Salvatore Larosa, Domenico Cimini, Donatello Gallucci, Saverio Teodosio Nilo, and Filomena Romano
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 2053–2076, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2053-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-2053-2024, 2024
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PyRTlib is an attractive educational tool because it provides a flexible and user-friendly way to broadly simulate how electromagnetic radiation travels through the atmosphere as it interacts with atmospheric constituents (such as gases, aerosols, and hydrometeors). PyRTlib is a so-called radiative transfer model; these are commonly used to simulate and understand remote sensing observations from ground-based, airborne, or satellite instruments.
Kelly M. Núñez Ocasio and Zachary L. Moon
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-259, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-259, 2024
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TAMS is an open-source mesoscale convective system tracking and classifying Python-based package that can be used to study observed and simulated systems. Each step of the algorithm is described in this paper with examples showing how to make use of visualization and post-processing tools within the package. A unique and valuable feature of this tracker is its support for unstructured grids in the identification stage and grid-independent tracking.
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