Simulation of Surface Ozone Pollution in the Central Gulf Coast Region Using WRF/Chem Model: Sensitivity to PBL and Land Surface Physics

Yerramilli, Anjaneyulu; Challa, Venkata Srinivas; Dodla, Venkata Bhaskar Rao; Dasari, Hari Prasad; Young, John H.; Patrick, Chuck; Baham, Julius M.; Hughes, Robert W.; Hardy, Mark G.; Swanier, Shelton J.

doi:10.1155/2010/319138

Cited by 37 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 50 publications

(70 reference statements)

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“…The simulations overestimate the nighttime winds (Figures b, f, j, and n) but present similar wind biases for coastal regions including the Houston area as was found in previous studies such as those by Misenis et al (), Cheng and Steenburgh (), Roux et al (), Yerramilli et al (), Ngan et al (), and Cuchiara et al (). In the model, the arrival times of the sea and bay breezes are about 2 hr later when compared with the observations (Figure ).…”

Section: Case Studysupporting

confidence: 87%

Bay Breeze and Sea Breeze Circulation Impacts on the Planetary Boundary Layer and Air Quality From an Observed and Modeled DISCOVER‐AQ Texas Case Study

et al. 2019

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The role of the sea/bay breeze in the planetary boundary layer evolution and air quality during a high ozone event day in the Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER‐AQ) Texas 2013 campaign was examined. Data from surface air quality monitoring network stations, airborne lidar data, and additional ground‐based lidar instrumentation deployed during the campaign allowed for a unique three‐dimensional spatial and temporal study of the progression of both meteorological and air quality conditions in the Houston‐Galveston regions on 25 September 2013. The Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry model was used to examine the relationship of the land and bay/sea breeze circulations and its influence on air quality during the case study. Comparisons between observations and simulations revealed the largest discrepancies near the Galveston Bay shore areas where the highly localized ozone concentrations were observed and were linked to the strength and timing of the bay/sea breeze progression. Additionally, results indicate vertical downmixing from the remnants of the nighttime residual layer during morning hours into the convective boundary layer and from the lofted offshore return flow into the subjacent bay breeze flow.

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Section: Case Studysupporting

confidence: 87%

Bay Breeze and Sea Breeze Circulation Impacts on the Planetary Boundary Layer and Air Quality From an Observed and Modeled DISCOVER‐AQ Texas Case Study

et al. 2019

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“…In the 1‐D REAM, vertical mixing is driven by the WRF‐generated parameters such as turbulent diffusivity, which is computed by BL and land‐surface schemes in WRF. A number of studies compared the performance of these WRF schemes in terms of meteorological parameters such as temperature and humidity [ Gilliam and Pleim , ; Hu et al , ; Shin and Hong , ; Xie et al , ], but few evaluated their influence on chemical tracers [ Yerramilli et al , ; Pleim , ]. To test how the choices of BL and land‐surface schemes impact vertical mixing in the 1‐D REAM, we choose three BL schemes (MYJ, YSU, and ACM2) and two land‐surface schemes (Noah and RUC) in WRF and evaluate their performance with the DISCOVER‐AQ 2011 observations.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large vertical gradient of reactive nitrogen oxides in the boundary layer: Modeling analysis of DISCOVER‐AQ 2011 observations

et al. 2016

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An often used assumption in air pollution studies is a well‐mixed boundary layer (BL), where pollutants are evenly distributed. Because of the difficulty in obtaining vertically resolved measurements, the validity of the assumption has not been thoroughly evaluated. In this study, we use more than 200 vertical profiles observed in the Deriving Information on Surface Conditions from Column and Vertically Resolved Observations Relevant to Air Quality (DISCOVER‐AQ) aircraft campaign in July 2011 to examine the vertical distributions of pollutants over the Washington‐Baltimore area. While many long‐lived species are well mixed in daytime, the observed average vertical profile of NOx shows a large negative gradient with increasing altitude in the BL. Our analysis suggests that the magnitude of the NOx gradient is highly sensitive to atmospheric stability. We investigate how parameterizations of the BL and land‐surface processes impact vertical profiles in a 1‐D chemical transport model, using three BL schemes (Asymmetric Convective Model version 2 (ACM2), Yonsei University (YSU), and Mellor‐Yamada‐Janjic (MYJ)) and two land‐surface schemes (Noah and Rapid Update Cycle (RUC)). The model reasonably reproduces the median vertical profiles of NOx under different BL stability conditions within 30% of observations, classified based on potential temperature gradient and BL height. Comparisons with NOx observations for individual vertical profiles reveal that while YSU performs better in the turbulent and deep BL case, in general, ACM2 (RMSE = 2.0 ppbv) outperforms YSU (RMSE = 2.5 ppbv) and MYJ (RMSE = 2.2 ppbv). Results also indicate that the land‐surface schemes in the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model have a small impact on the NOx gradient. Using model simulations, we analyze the impact of BL NOx gradient on the calculation of the ozone production rate and satellite NO2 retrieval. We show that using surface measurements and the well‐mixed BL assumption causes a ~45% high bias in the estimated BL ozone production rate and that the variability of NO2 vertical profiles is responsible for 5–10% variability in the retrieved NO2 tropospheric vertical columns.

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“…Previous study (Žabkar et al, 2013) reported that the model physics parameterization schemes of PBL, LW, SW, surface layer (SL) and land-surface model (LSM) were of great importance for simulation results. Yerramilli et al (2010) advocated that the simulation using the Noah LSM scheme often showed the best consistency with observation. This conclusion had been proved in our experimental study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Performance Evaluation of the WRF-Chem Model with Different Physical Parameterization Schemes during an Extremely High PM2.5 Pollution Episode in Beijing

Chen

Xie

Zhou

et al. 2017

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

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To understand the impacts of different combinations of planetary boundary layer (PBL), short-wave (SW) and longwave (LW) radiation schemes on the simulation results of meteorological variables and PM 2.5 concentrations under extremely heavy pollution conditions, the Weather Research and Forecasting model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model was applied in Beijing to investigate a high PM 2.5 pollution episode that occurred in January, 2013. Four PBL schemes, two SW schemes and three LW schemes with a total of 12 ensemble experiments were conducted in this study. The simulated meteorological variables including the temperature at 2 m (T2), the wind speed at 10 m (WS10) and the relative humidity (RH) were compared with their actual observations and the PM 2.5 concentrations. A correlation analysis between the PM 2.5 and T2, WS10 and RH values was also explored. The results indicated that there were no ideal scheme combinations that were most suitable for all meteorological variable simulations during this heavy pollution episode in Beijing. With the same emissions input, the simulation results of the WRF-Chem model that were configured with different physical parameterization schemes may vary significantly. As for the PM 2.5 simulation, the combination of the YSU PBL, Goddard SW and GFDL LW schemes showed the greatest consistency with the observed values. Although the PBL schemes have the dominant impacts on the simulations of meteorological variables, the selection of LW and SW schemes is of the same importance.

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Simulation of Surface Ozone Pollution in the Central Gulf Coast Region Using WRF/Chem Model: Sensitivity to PBL and Land Surface Physics

Cited by 37 publications

References 50 publications

Bay Breeze and Sea Breeze Circulation Impacts on the Planetary Boundary Layer and Air Quality From an Observed and Modeled DISCOVER‐AQ Texas Case Study

Bay Breeze and Sea Breeze Circulation Impacts on the Planetary Boundary Layer and Air Quality From an Observed and Modeled DISCOVER‐AQ Texas Case Study

Large vertical gradient of reactive nitrogen oxides in the boundary layer: Modeling analysis of DISCOVER‐AQ 2011 observations

Performance Evaluation of the WRF-Chem Model with Different Physical Parameterization Schemes during an Extremely High PM2.5 Pollution Episode in Beijing

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