2011 Visibility/Haze Modeling

We evaluated the ability of CAMx simulations Base2011a and Base2011a_GCBC to estimate light extinction for individual PM species and for total PM2.5 at sites in the IMPROVE network. We used the IMPROVE equation to calculate light extinction (Bext, Mm^-1) from the model and compared the results to observed light extinctions from the IMPROVE network.

The plots below present the visibility modeling results using standard model performance metrics (scatter plots, time series plots, soccer plots) and with stacked bar plots comparing the PM extinction species at each site on the 20% best and worst visibility days observed at each IMPROVE site in 2011. All of the results presented here are from the 4-km modeling domain unless otherwise specified.

Total Species Extinction (TOTbext) Soccer Plots

Extinction Species Scatter Plots

Total Extinction Timeseries by IMPROVE site

Great Sand Dunes National Monument
Mesa Verde National Park
Mount Zirkel Wilderness
Rocky Mountain National Park
Weminuche Wilderness

Utah

Bryce Canyon National Park
Canyonlands National Park

Wyoming

Bridger Wilderness
North Absaroka

IMPROVE Site Model/Obs Extinction Species Stacked Bar Plots