Evaluation of WRF mesoscale simulations and particle trajectory analysis for the MILAGRO field campaign
Name
deFoy-2009-Evaluation of WRF mesoscale simulations and particle trajectory analysis for the MILAGRO field campaign.pdf
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2.65 MB
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Author(s)
de Foy, B.
Zavala-Perez, Miguel Angel
Bei, Naifang
Molina, Luisa Tan
Date Issued
July 2009
Journal
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Publisher
European Geosciences Union / Copernicus
Citation
de Foy, B. et al. “Evaluation of WRF Mesoscale Simulations and Particle Trajectory Analysis for the MILAGRO Field Campaign.” Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 9.13 (2009) : 4419-4438. © Author(s) 2009
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Accurate numerical simulations of the complex wind flows in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) can be an invaluable tool for interpreting the MILAGRO field campaign results. This paper uses three methods to evaluate numerical simulations of basin meteorology using the MM5 and WRF models: statistical comparisons with observations, "Concentration Field Analysis" (CFA) using measured air pollutant concentrations, and comparison of flow features using cluster analysis. CFA is shown to be a better indication of simulation quality than statistical metrics, and WRF simulations are shown to be an improvement on the MM5 ones. Comparisons with clusters identifies an under-representation of the drainage flows into the basin and an over-representation of wind shear in the boundary layer. Particle trajectories simulated with WRF-FLEXPART are then used to analyse the transport of the urban plume and show rapid venting and limited recirculation during MILAGRO. Lagrangian impacts were identified at the campaign supersites, and age spectra of the pollutants evaluated at those same sites. The evaluation presented in the paper show that mesoscale meteorological simulations are of sufficient accuracy to be useful for MILAGRO data analysis.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
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Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-4419-2009
