Assessment of Land Surface Schemes from the WRF-Chem for Atmospheric Modeling in the Andean Region of Ecuador

Abstract

Surface interactions occur near the land–atmosphere interface, thus affecting the temperature, convection, boundary layer, and stability of the atmosphere. A proper representation of surface interactions is a crucial component for numerical atmospheric and air quality modeling. We assessed four land surface schemes—1. 5–layer thermal diffusion scheme (1 5-Layer); 2. unified Noah land surface model (2 Noah); 3. rapid update cycle (3 RUC) land surface model; and 4. Pleim–Xiu land surface model (4 Pleim–Xiu)—from the Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF-Chem V3.2) model for the purposes of atmospheric modeling in Cuenca, which is a region with a complex topography and land use configuration and which is located in the Southern Andean region, in Ecuador. For this purpose, we modeled the meteorological and air quality variables during September 2014. It was found that the meteorological and short-term air quality variables were better modeled through the 2 Noah scheme. Long-term (mean monthly) air quality variables were better modeled by the 1 5–Layer and 3 RUC options. On average, the 2 Noah scheme was better at modeling meteorology and air quality. In addition, we assessed the 2 Noah scheme combined with the urban canopy model (UCM) (5 Noah UCM), which was developed as an option to represent the urban effects at a subgrid-scale. Results indicated that the performance of the 5 Noah UCM scheme was not better at modeling than the 2 Noah scheme alone. Moreover, the 5 Noah UCM scheme notably decreased the modeling performance for carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter. These results complement previous assessments of other schemes, allowing us to recommend a basic configuration of parameters for atmospheric modeling in the Andean region of Ecuador.

Impact of Cumulus Options from WRF-Chem in Atmospheric Modeling in the Andean Region of Southern Ecuador

“…Speciated hourly emissions maps generated from the emission inventory 2014 [21] were used for atmospheric studies [3,6,22]. These emissions were used in studies that identified parameterization options for getting acceptable modeling performances in Cuenca.…”

“…Atmospheric modeling was done in Cuenca, an Andean city in the southern of Ecuador (2500 masl, Figure 1), using this spatial resolution for studying the influence of planetary boundary layer schemes [3], for assessing the impact on air quality due to the shift from diesel to electric buses [4] and the influence of feedback between aerosols and meteorology [5]. Recently, schemes for modeling the interaction near the land-atmosphere interface were assessed through land surface schemes [6]. These contributions identified options for improving the atmospheric modeling in this region, and although acceptable performances were achieved, other components, such as the cumulus options, deserve dedicated studies [7].…”

Editorial for the Special Issue “Atmospheric Dispersion and Chemistry Models: Advances and Applications”

“…They presented the results of a multi-model ensemble construction to determine the below-cloud scavenging coefficient in atmospheric dispersion and chemistry models, which could be used to improve the current approaches associated with modeling the distribution of pollutants in the atmosphere in the case of an emergency. Parra [8] evaluated several land surface schemes in an online-coupled atmospheric chemical model applied to the complex Andean region of Ecuador, where atmospheric modeling is challenging. His findings provide insights into the influence of land surface schemes on meteorology and air quality modeling.…”