Abstract. Numerical models that combine weather forecasting and atmospheric chemistry are here referred to as chemical weather forecasting models. Eighteen operational chemical weather forecasting models on regional and continental scales in Europe are described and compared in this article. Topics discussed in this article include how weather forecasting and atmospheric chemistry models are integrated into chemical weather forecasting systems, how physical processes are incorporated into the models through parameterization schemes, how the model architecture affects the predicted variables, and how air chemistry and aerosol processes are formulated. In addition, we discuss sensitivity analysis and evaluation of the models, user operational requirements, such as model availability and documentation, and output availability and dissemination. In this manner, this article allows for the evaluation of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the various modelling systems and modelling approaches. Finally, this article highlights the most prominent gaps of knowledge for chemical weather forecasting models and suggests potential priorities for future research Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. J. Kukkonen et al.: A review of operational, regional-scale, chemical weather forecasting models in Europedirections, for the following selected focus areas: emission inventories, the integration of numerical weather prediction and atmospheric chemical transport models, boundary conditions and nesting of models, data assimilation of the various chemical species, improved understanding and parameterization of physical processes, better evaluation of models against data and the construction of model ensembles.
Abstract. Urban areas are an important part of the climate system and many aspects of urban climate have direct effects on human health and living conditions. This implies that reliable tools for local urban climate studies supporting sustainable urban planning are needed. However, a realistic implementation of urban canopy processes still poses a serious challenge for weather and climate modelling for the current generation of numerical models. To address this demand, a new urban surface model (USM), describing the surface energy processes for urban environments, was developed and integrated as a module into the PALM large-eddy simulation model. The development of the presented first version of the USM originated from modelling the urban heat island during summer heat wave episodes and thus implements primarily processes important in such conditions. The USM contains a multi-reflection radiation model for shortwave and longwave radiation with an integrated model of absorption of radiation by resolved plant canopy (i.e. trees, shrubs). Furthermore, it consists of an energy balance solver for horizontal and vertical impervious surfaces, and thermal diffusion in ground, wall, and roof materials, and it includes a simple model for the consideration of anthropogenic heat sources. The USM was parallelized using the standard Message Passing Interface and performance testing demonstrates that the computational costs of the USM are reasonable on typical clusters for the tested configurations. The module was fully integrated into PALM and is available via its online repository under the GNU General Public License (GPL). The USM was tested on a summer heat-wave episode for a selected Prague crossroads. The general representation of the urban boundary layer and patterns of surface temperatures of various surface types (walls, pavement) are in good agreement with in situ observations made in Prague. Additional simulations were performed in order to assess the sensitivity of the results to uncertainties in the material parameters, the domain size, and the general effect of the USM itself. The first version of the USM is limited to the processes most relevant to the study of summer heat waves and serves as a basis for ongoing development which will address additional processes of the urban environment and lead to improvements to extend the utilization of the USM to other environments and conditions.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.