Online coupled modeling of weather and air quality of Budapest using the WRF-Chem model

Abstract

Abstract⎯ WRF-Chem is a numerical Eulerian non-hydrostatic mesoscale weather prediction model online coupled with the atmospheric chemistry model, developed mainly by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This model system is a frequently used tool for creating high resolution air quality simulations at different spatial and temporal scales for various air pollutants. In this study, the technical backgrounds of the WRF-Chem model applied for high resolution urban air quality forecasts in Budapest are presented. The meteorological module of the system uses the WRF-ARW (Weather Research and Forecasting -Advanced Research WRF) dynamical solver, and obtains its initial and boundary conditions from the GFS (Global Forecast System) using a horizontal resolution of 0.25 × 0.25 degree. By applying two nested model domains (with 15 × 5 km horizontal resolution), fine resolution meteorological fields can be achieved. In the chemical module, the National Emission Inventories created by the Hungarian Meteorological Service were applied, different chemical reaction sets were used and tested, and constant deposition rates were assumed. In this work, a case study for different pollutants (O 3 , NO, NO 2 , and CO) is presented for an early summer period of 2015.

An uncertainty for clean air: Air quality modeling implications of underestimating VOC emissions in urban inventories

“…The selection of a given chemical mechanism defines the number of species and reactions to be considered during the simulation, the reaction rate constants, and the lumping approach for diverse species. Several studies dedicated to intercompare the performance of various chemical mechanisms have found a large sensitivity of the model concerning the chosen mechanism, which could influence the prediction of gaseous and aerosol species concentration, as well as their physical properties (Balzarini et al, 2015;Kovács et al, 2019;Mar et al, 2016;Zhang et al, 2012). These studies highlight the importance of an adequate selection of the chemical mechanism to achieve an accurate representation of the state of air quality in the different modeling exercises that are carried out.…”

Az épített környezet hatása a levegőminőségre - levegőminőség mérések Budapesten hordozható műszerekkel

“…A városon belüli légszennyezettségi viszonyok térbeli eloszlását levegőkémiai modellekkel is leírhatjuk (l. pl. Leelőssy et al, 2017;Kovács et al, 2019), de a beépítettségi viszonyok tényleges hatásait, és az egyes útvonalak menti légszennyezettséget elsősorban a mobil mérések képesek visszaadni.…”

PM2.5 koncentráció mérések mobil méromuszerrel budapesti belvárosi kerékpár útvonalon

“…A légszennyezettségi viszonyok térbeli eloszlását városi környezetben általában levegőkémiai modellekkel írják le (l. pl. Leelőssy et al, 2017;Kovács et al, 2019). A modellszimulációk mellett a hordozható légszennyezettség-mérő műszerek használata is egyre népszerűbb, ugyanis ezek segítségével a személyes kitettséget közvetlenül lehet vizsgálni.…”