336
D. G. Amanatidis et al.
from NOAA has been used in the model to investigate their impact on the simulated
air pollutants. The higher resolution meteorological input improves the comparison
of model results to observations. The results are found sensitive to the chemical
boundary and initial conditions.
53.1 Introduction
The impact of air pollution on human health, ecosystems, and climate is uncontestable. The continuous growth of urbanization, transportation and industrialization recorded all over the Mediterranean during the last century led to a rise in the
anthropogenic emissions of several key trace gases and aerosols. Modern society is
becoming increasingly vulnerable to changes in weather, climate and air quality, supporting the need of models for reliable projections on regional to local scales. Trace
gases and aerosols affect climate both directly and indirectly and in turn regional
air quality is strongly influenced by weather and climate. Several studies [1, 2] have
shown strong correlation between surface ozone concentrations and surface temperature. Also, temperature increase leads to increases of biogenic emissions [5]. Local
meteorological conditions (e.g. high solar radiation, wind speeds, humidity) favor
the formation of secondary pollutants [6]. This study investigates the sensitivity of
mesoscale model simulations of meteorology and air quality for July 2016 on the
different meteorological and chemical boundary and initial conditions used by the
model for the Mediterranean focusing on the Eastern Mediterranean.
To study the impact of distinct sources on air pollution and atmospheric deposition
in the South Eastern Mediterranean the mesoscale Weather Research and Forecasting
model version 3.8 [4] coupled with chemistry (WRF-CHEM) was setup for the area
and evaluated. The present study focuses on evaluating the model by comparing
simulation results with surface observations at ground-based stations of Finokalia
on the island of Crete in Greece and Ayia Marina in Cyprus. It also investigates the
importance of the model spatial resolution for the simulated pollutant concentrations
and in particular for gases O 3 , CO and NO 2 and for aerosols BC, OC, SO
2−
4 , NO −
3 .
53.2 Data and Methodology
The WRF-CHEM simulations of the spatiotemporal variability of key meteorological and climate parameters such as near surface temperature, wind speed, surface
pressure and atmospheric composition, are first evaluated. Three model domains
extended vertically up to 50 hPa with 30 hybrid levels are used: a coarse (36 ×
36 km), an intermediate (12 × 12 km) and a higher horizontal resolution (7.2 ×
7.2 km) (Fig. 53.1a). The intermediate and finest resolutions were run on one-way
nested setup. The National Centers for Environmental Predictions (NCEP) meteorology analyses, available every 6 h in 1° × 1° (GFS-FNL) and 0.25° × 0.25°
D. G. Amanatidis et al.
from NOAA has been used in the model to investigate their impact on the simulated
air pollutants. The higher resolution meteorological input improves the comparison
of model results to observations. The results are found sensitive to the chemical
boundary and initial conditions.
53.1 Introduction
The impact of air pollution on human health, ecosystems, and climate is uncontestable. The continuous growth of urbanization, transportation and industrialization recorded all over the Mediterranean during the last century led to a rise in the
anthropogenic emissions of several key trace gases and aerosols. Modern society is
becoming increasingly vulnerable to changes in weather, climate and air quality, supporting the need of models for reliable projections on regional to local scales. Trace
gases and aerosols affect climate both directly and indirectly and in turn regional
air quality is strongly influenced by weather and climate. Several studies [1, 2] have
shown strong correlation between surface ozone concentrations and surface temperature. Also, temperature increase leads to increases of biogenic emissions [5]. Local
meteorological conditions (e.g. high solar radiation, wind speeds, humidity) favor
the formation of secondary pollutants [6]. This study investigates the sensitivity of
mesoscale model simulations of meteorology and air quality for July 2016 on the
different meteorological and chemical boundary and initial conditions used by the
model for the Mediterranean focusing on the Eastern Mediterranean.
To study the impact of distinct sources on air pollution and atmospheric deposition
in the South Eastern Mediterranean the mesoscale Weather Research and Forecasting
model version 3.8 [4] coupled with chemistry (WRF-CHEM) was setup for the area
and evaluated. The present study focuses on evaluating the model by comparing
simulation results with surface observations at ground-based stations of Finokalia
on the island of Crete in Greece and Ayia Marina in Cyprus. It also investigates the
importance of the model spatial resolution for the simulated pollutant concentrations
and in particular for gases O 3 , CO and NO 2 and for aerosols BC, OC, SO
2−
4 , NO −
3 .
53.2 Data and Methodology
The WRF-CHEM simulations of the spatiotemporal variability of key meteorological and climate parameters such as near surface temperature, wind speed, surface
pressure and atmospheric composition, are first evaluated. Three model domains
extended vertically up to 50 hPa with 30 hybrid levels are used: a coarse (36 ×
36 km), an intermediate (12 × 12 km) and a higher horizontal resolution (7.2 ×
7.2 km) (Fig. 53.1a). The intermediate and finest resolutions were run on one-way
nested setup. The National Centers for Environmental Predictions (NCEP) meteorology analyses, available every 6 h in 1° × 1° (GFS-FNL) and 0.25° × 0.25°