Impact of chemical lateral boundary conditions in a regional air quality forecast model on surface ozone predictions during stratospheric intrusions

2018 ◽  
Vol 174 ◽  
pp. 148-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diane Pendlebury ◽  
Sylvie Gravel ◽  
Michael D. Moran ◽  
Alexandru Lupu
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Surface Ozone ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Lateral Boundary ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
Lateral Boundary Conditions ◽  
Regional Air Quality ◽  
Stratospheric Intrusions ◽  
Quality Forecast

Assessment of the quality of TROPOMI high-spatial-resolution NO2 data products

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoyi Zhao ◽  
Debora Griffin ◽  
Vitali Fioletov ◽  
Chris McLinden ◽  
Alexander Cede ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Near Infrared ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Data Product ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
Data Products ◽  
Regional Air Quality ◽  
Quality Forecast

<p>The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) on-board the Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite (launched on 13 October 2017) is a nadir-viewing spectrometer measuring reflected sunlight in the ultraviolet, visible, near-infrared, and shortwave infrared spectral ranges. The measured spectra are used to retrieve total columns of trace gases, including nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub>2</sub>). In this study, Pandora NO<sub>2</sub> measurements made at three sites located in or north of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) are used to evaluate the TROPOMI NO<sub>2</sub> data products, including the standard Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) NO<sub>2</sub> data product and a research data product developed by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) using a high-resolution regional air quality forecast model (used in the airmass factor calculation).</p><p>TROPOMI pixels located upwind and downwind from the Pandora sites were analyzed using a new wind-based validation method that increases the number of coincident measurements by about a factor of five compared to standard techniques. Using this larger number of coincident measurements, this work shows that both TROPOMI and Pandora instruments can reveal detailed spatial patterns (i.e., horizontal distributions) of local and transported NO<sub>2</sub> emissions, which can be used to evaluate regional air quality changes. The TROPOMI ECCC NO<sub>2</sub> research data product shows improved agreement with Pandora measurements compared to the TROPOMI standard tropospheric NO<sub>2</sub> data product, demonstrating the benefit of using the high-resolution regional air quality forecast model to derive NO<sub>2</sub> airmass factors.</p>

scholarly journals Evaluation of modeled surface ozone biases as a function of cloud cover fraction

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 3219-3233 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. C. Kim ◽  
P. Lee ◽  
F. Ngan ◽  
Y. Tang ◽  
H. L. Yoo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Surface Ozone ◽  
Daily Maximum ◽  
Ozone Level ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Regional Air Quality ◽  
Resolution Imaging ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽  
Quality Forecast

Abstract. A regional air-quality forecast system's model of surface ozone variability based on cloud coverage is evaluated using satellite-observed cloud fraction (CF) information and a surface air-quality monitoring system. We compared CF and daily maximum ozone from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NOAA NAQFC) with CFs from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's AirNow surface ozone measurements during May to October 2014. We found that observed surface ozone shows a clear (negative) correlation with the MODIS CFs, showing around 1 ppb decrease for 10% MODIS CF change over the Contiguous United States, while the correlation of modeled surface ozone with the model CFs is much weaker, showing only −0.5 ppb per 10% NAQFC CF change. Further, daytime CF differences between MODIS and NAQFC are correlated with modeled surface-ozone biases between AirNow and NAQFC, showing −1.05 ppb per 10% CF change, implying that spatial- and temporal-misplacement of the modeled cloud field might have biased modeled surface ozone-level. Current NAQFC cloud fields seem to be too bright compared to MODIS cloud fields (mean NAQFC CF = 0.38 and mean MODIS CF = 0.55), contributing up to 35% of surface-ozone bias in the current NAQFC system.

scholarly journals Evaluation of a regional air quality forecast model for tropospheric NO<sub>2</sub> columns using the OMI/AURA satellite tropospheric NO<sub>2</sub> product

2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 27063-27098
Author(s):  
F. L. Herron-Thorpe ◽  
J. K. Vaughan ◽  
B. K. Lamb ◽  
G. H. Mount
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Tropospheric No2 ◽  
Regional Air Quality ◽  
Significant Model ◽  
Quality Forecast

Abstract. Results from a regional air quality forecast model, AIRPACT-3, are compared to OMI tropospheric NO2 integrated column densities for an 18 month period over the Pacific Northwest. AIRPACT column densities were well correlated with cloud-free monthly averages of tropospheric NO2 (R=0.75) to NASA retrievals for months without wildfires, but were poorly correlated with significant model overpredictions (R=0.21) for months with wildfires when OMI and AIRPACT were compared over the entire domain. AIRPACT forecasted higher NO2 in some US urban areas, and lower NO2 in many Canadian urban areas, when compared to OMI. There are significant changes in results after spatially averaging model results to the daily OMI swath. Also, it is shown that applying the averaging kernel to model results in cloudy conditions has a large effect, but applying the averaging kernel in cloud free conditions has little effect. The KNMI and NASA retrievals of tropospheric NO2 from OMI (collection 3) are compared. The NASA product is shown to be significantly different than the KNMI tropospheric NO2 product, i.e. July 2007 (R=0.60) and January 2008 (R=0.69).

scholarly journals Regional air-quality forecasting for the Pacific Northwest using MOPITT/TERRA assimilated carbon monoxide MOZART-4 forecasts as a near real-time boundary condition

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5603-5615 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. L. Herron-Thorpe ◽  
G. H. Mount ◽  
L. K. Emmons ◽  
B. K. Lamb ◽  
S. H. Chung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Dynamic Boundary Conditions ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Regional Air Quality ◽  
Air Quality Forecasting

Abstract. Results from a regional air quality forecast model, AIRPACT-3, were compared to AIRS carbon monoxide column densities for the spring of 2010 over the Pacific Northwest. AIRPACT-3 column densities showed high correlation (R > 0.9) but were significantly biased (~25%) with consistent under-predictions for spring months when there is significant transport from Asia. The AIRPACT-3 CO bias relative to AIRS was eliminated by incorporating dynamic boundary conditions derived from NCAR's MOZART forecasts with assimilated MOPITT carbon monoxide. Changes in ozone-related boundary conditions derived from MOZART forecasts are also discussed and found to affect background levels by ± 10 ppb but not found to significantly affect peak ozone surface concentrations.

scholarly journals Regional air-quality forecasting for the Pacific Northwest using MOPITT/TERRA assimilated carbon monoxide MOZART-4 forecasts as a near real-time boundary condition

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 3695-3730
Author(s):  
F. L. Herron-Thorpe ◽  
G. H. Mount ◽  
L. K. Emmons ◽  
B. K. Lamb ◽  
S. H. Chung ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Dynamic Boundary Conditions ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Regional Air Quality ◽  
Air Quality Forecasting

Abstract. Results from a regional air quality forecast model, AIRPACT-3, were compared to AIRS carbon monoxide column densities for the spring of 2010 over the Pacific Northwest. AIRPACT-3 column densities showed high correlation (R>0.9) but were significantly biased (~25 %) with significant under-predictions for spring months with significant transport from Asia. The AIRPACT-3 CO bias relative to AIRS was eliminated by incorporating dynamic boundary conditions derived from NCAR's MOZART forecasts with assimilated MOPITT carbon monoxide. Changes in ozone-related boundary conditions derived from MOZART forecasts are also discussed and found to affect background levels by ±10 ppb but not found to significantly affect peak ozone surface concentrations.

scholarly journals Evaluation of modeled surface ozone biases as a function of cloud cover fraction

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (9) ◽  
pp. 2959-2965 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. C. Kim ◽  
P. Lee ◽  
F. Ngan ◽  
Y. Tang ◽  
H. L. Yoo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Surface Ozone ◽  
Daily Maximum ◽  
Ozone Level ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
The Us ◽  
Moderate Resolution ◽  
Regional Air Quality ◽  
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ◽  
Quality Forecast

Abstract. A regional air-quality forecast system's model of surface ozone variability based on cloud coverage is evaluated using satellite-observed cloud fraction (CF) information and a surface air-quality monitoring system. We compared CF and daily maximum ozone from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NOAA NAQFC) with CFs from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the US Environmental Protection Agency's AirNow surface ozone measurements during May to October 2014. We found that observed surface ozone shows a negative correlation with the MODIS CFs, showing around 1 ppb decrease for 10 % MODIS CF change over the contiguous United States, while the correlation of modeled surface ozone with the model CFs is much weaker, showing only −0.5 ppb per 10 % NAQFC CF change. Further, daytime CF differences between MODIS and NAQFC are correlated with modeled surface-ozone biases between AirNow and NAQFC, showing −1.05 ppb per 10 % CF change, implying that spatial and temporal misplacement of the modeled cloud field might have biased modeled surface ozone level. Current NAQFC cloud fields seem to have fewer CFs compared to MODIS cloud fields (mean NAQFC CF = 0.38 and mean MODIS CF = 0.55), contributing up to 35 % of surface-ozone bias in the current NAQFC system.

scholarly journals Comparison of chemical lateral boundary conditions for air quality predictions over the contiguous United States during pollutant intrusion events

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 2527-2550
Author(s):  
Youhua Tang ◽  
Huisheng Bian ◽  
Zhining Tao ◽  
Luke D. Oman ◽  
Daniel Tong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Model Performance ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Atmospheric Composition ◽  
Lateral Boundary ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
Lateral Boundary Conditions

Abstract. The National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NAQFC) operated in the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) provides the operational forecast guidance for ozone and fine particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5) over the contiguous 48 US states (CONUS) using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. The existing NAQFC uses climatological chemical lateral boundary conditions (CLBCs), which cannot capture pollutant intrusion events originating outside of the model domain. In this study, we developed a model framework to use dynamic CLBCs from the Goddard Earth Observing System Model, version 5 (GEOS) to drive NAQFC. A mapping of the GEOS chemical species to CMAQ's CB05–AERO6 (Carbon Bond 5; version 6 of the aerosol module) species was developed. The utilization of the GEOS dynamic CLBCs in NAQFC showed the best overall performance in simulating the surface observations during the Saharan dust intrusion and Canadian wildfire events in summer 2015. The simulated PM2.5 was improved from 0.18 to 0.37, and the mean bias was reduced from −6.74 to −2.96 µg m−3 over CONUS. Although the effect of CLBCs on the PM2.5 correlation was mainly near the inflow boundary, its impact on the background concentrations reached further inside the domain. The CLBCs could affect background ozone concentrations through the inflows of ozone itself and its precursors, such as CO. It was further found that the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from satellite retrievals correlated well with the column CO and elemental carbon from GEOS. The satellite-derived AOT CLBCs generally improved the model performance for the wildfire intrusion events during a summer 2018 case study and demonstrated how satellite observations of atmospheric composition could be used as an alternative method to capture the air quality effects of intrusions when the CLBCs of global models, such as GEOS CLBCs, are not available.

scholarly journals Evaluation of a regional air quality forecast model for tropospheric NO<sub>2</sub> columns using the OMI/Aura satellite tropospheric NO<sub>2</sub> product

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (18) ◽  
pp. 8839-8854 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. L. Herron-Thorpe ◽  
B. K. Lamb ◽  
G. H. Mount ◽  
J. K. Vaughan
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Forecast Model ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Standard Product ◽  
Tropospheric No2 ◽  
Regional Air Quality ◽  
Quality Forecast

Abstract. Results from a regional air quality forecast model, AIRPACT-3, are compared to OMI tropospheric NO2 integrated column densities for an 18 month period over the Pacific Northwest. AIRPACT column densities are well correlated (r=0.75) to cloud-free (<35%) retrievals of tropospheric NO2 for monthly averages without wildfires, but are poorly correlated (r=0.21) with significant model over-predictions for months with wildfires when OMI and AIRPACT are compared over the entire domain. AIRPACT predicts higher NO2 in some northwestern US urban areas, and lower NO2 in the Vancouver, BC urban area, when compared to OMI. Model results are spatially averaged to the daily OMI swath. The Dutch KNMI (DOMINO) and NASA (Standard Product) retrievals of tropospheric NO2 from OMI (Collection-3) are compared. The NASA product is shown to be significantly different than the KNMI tropospheric NO2 product. The average difference in tropospheric columns, after applying the averaging kernels of the respective products to the model results, is shown to be larger in the summer (±50%) than winter (±20%).

scholarly journals Comparison of Chemical Lateral Boundary Conditions for Air Quality Predictions over the Contiguous United States during Intrusion Events

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youhua Tang ◽  
Huisheng Bian ◽  
Zhining Tao ◽  
Luke D. Oman ◽  
Daniel Tong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Chemical Species ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Lateral Boundary ◽  
Model Framework ◽  
Earth Observing System ◽  
Air Quality Forecast ◽  
Lateral Boundary Conditions ◽  
Chemical Simulation

Abstract. The existing National Air Quality Forecast Capability (NAQFC) operated at NOAA provides operational forecast guidance for ozone and particle matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5) over the contiguous 48 U.S. states (CONUS) using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model. Currently NAQFC is using chemical lateral boundary conditions (CLBCs) from a monthly climatology, which cannot capture pollutant intrusion events originated outside of the model domain. In this study, we developed a model framework to introduce the time-varying chemical simulation from the Goddard Earth Observing System Model, version 5 (GEOS) as the CLBCs to drive NAQFC. The method of mapping GEOS chemical species to CMAQ CB05-Aero6 species was also developed. We then evaluated NAQFC's performance using the new CLBCs from GEOS. The utilization of the GEOS dynamic CLBCs showed an overall best score when comparing the NAQFC simulation with the surface observations during the Saharan dust intrusion and Canadian wildfire events in summer 2015: the PM2.5 correlation coefficient R was improved from 0.18 to 0.37 and the mean bias was narrowed from −6.74 μg/m3 to −2.96 μg/m3 over CONUS. The CLBCs' influences depended on not only the distance from the inflow boundary, but also species and their regional characteristics. For the PM2.5 prediction, the CLBC's effect on the correlations was mainly near the inflow boundary, and its impact on the background could reach farther inside the domain. The CLBCs also altered background ozone through the inflows of ozone itself and its precursors. It was further found that aerosol optical thickness (AOT) from VIIRS retrieval correlated well to the column CO and elemental carbon from GEOS, based on which the new CLBCs for wildfire intrusion event was derived. The AOT derived CLBCs successfully captured the wildfire intrusion events in our case study for summer 2018. It can be a useful alternative in case the CLBCs of GEOS are not available.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document