Evaluation of ECMWF IFS-AER (CAMS) operational forecasts during cycle 41r1–46r1 with calibrated ceilometer profiles over Germany

Abstract

Abstract. Aerosol forecasts by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Integrated Forecasting System aerosol module (IFS-AER) for the years 2016–2019 (cycles 41r1–46r1) are compared to vertical profiles of particle backscatter from the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD) ceilometer network. The system has been developed in the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and its precursors. The focus of this article is to evaluate the realism of the vertical aerosol distribution from 0.4 to 8 km above ground, coded in the shape, bias and temporal variation of the profiles. The common physical quantity, the attenuated backscatter β∗(z), is directly measured and calculated from the model mass mixing ratios of the different particle types using the model's inherent aerosol microphysical properties. Pearson correlation coefficients of daily average simulated and observed vertical profiles between r=0.6–0.8 in summer and 0.7–0.95 in winter indicate that most of the vertical structure is captured. It is governed by larger β∗(z) in the mixing layer and comparably well captured with the successive model versions. The aerosol load tends to be biased high near the surface, underestimated in the mixing layer and realistic at small background values in the undisturbed free troposphere. A seasonal cycle of the bias below 1 km height indicates that aerosol sources and/or lifetimes are overestimated in summer and pollution episodes are not fully resolved in winter. Long-range transport of Saharan dust or fire smoke is captured and timely, only the dispersion to smaller scales is not resolved in detail. Over Germany, β∗(z) values from Saharan dust and sea salt are considerably overestimated. Differences between model and ceilometer profiles are investigated using observed in situ mass concentrations of organic matter (OM), black carbon, SO4, NO3, NH4 and proxies for mineral dust and sea salt near the surface. Accordingly, SO4 and OM sources as well as gas-to-particle partitioning of the NO3–NH4 system are too strong. The top of the mixing layer on average appears too smooth and several hundred meters too low in the model. Finally, a discussion is included of the considerable uncertainties in the observations as well as the conversion from modeled to observed physical quantities and from necessary adaptions of varying resolutions and definitions.

Impact of Saharan dust outbreaks on short‐range weather forecast errors in Europe

“…Based on these computed area values, we manually tune thresholds so that they result in the selection of the dust events over Central Europe during the beginning and end of February 2021 and beginning of March 2021: If more than 25% of cells are classified as dusty and the median DOD is greater than 0.075, we select the date as a dust day. For both criteria, we use DOD data from the near‐real‐time CAMS forecast at initialisation time, which shows reasonable skill compared with measurements (Flentje et al, 2021; Gueymard & Yang, 2020). Finally we manually analyse the selected days for other prominent aerosol species over the selected areas, to ensure mineral dust is the dominant aerosol.…”

Multi-year high time resolution measurements of fine PM at 13 sites of the French Operational Network (CARA program): Data processing and chemical composition

“…Boundary conditions were taken from CAMS CIFS global model simulations (Flentje et al, 2021). Meteorological data were obtained from the operational analysis of the Integrated Forecasting System (IFS) model of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) (Flentje et al, 2021). Anthropogenic emissions of gases 295 and particles were taken from the CAMS-REG-AP inventory (version v5.1_REF2.1) (Kuenen et al, 2022).…”