2011b Modeling Platform Description

Recommendations

July 22, 2015

The Western Air Quality Study’s 2011b modeling platform and individual components as described below are released for use in regional air quality modeling studies by the Western Air Quality Study cooperating agencies for use in their studies, and for external users approved by the cooperators.

The 2011b platform is suitable for regional studies of warm season ozone. Studies of: 1) cold season ozone formation; 2) particulate matter, visibility, and deposition, in general; and 3) decisions about which global model boundary conditions to apply should be undertaken only with knowledge and understanding of the limitations on model performance discussed in the 2011b platform documentation.

Version B of the 2011 modeling (2011b) platform improves specific model performance issues discovered in the 2011a platform. All 2011b modeling data and results are available through the Western / 3-State Data Warehouse Data Request page.

Description

The 2011b platform consists of data and software for simulating year 2011 air quality over a modeling domain focused on the states of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. The 3SAQS_2011a Modeling Protocol was used to guide the WAQS 2011b modeling.

One important improvement in the 2011b platform is in the consideration of how snow cover impacts ozone formation. Base11b uses WRF meteorology that includes SNODAS snow cover/snow depth data and versions of WRFCAMx and CAMx with specialized dynamical and chemical parameterizations for areas covered by snow. Simulation Base11b used a winter configuration for both WRF and CAMx for the months December 2010 through March 2011. The rest of the simulation year (April-Decebember 2011) used the same WRF data and the same version of CAMx as simulation Base11a.

Oil and gas emissions for the Williston Basin in Montana and the Great Plains Basin in the Dakotas are missing from simulation Base11b. The IWDW generated Base11b_v2 CAMx and CMAQ-ready emissions that include the missing Montana/Dakotas oil and gas sources. While the Base11b_v2 emissions data have been QA'd, they have not been run through an air quality model by the IWDW.

When ordering the Base11b Modeling Platform from the IWDW, the distribution package includes both the standard (v6.10) and winter version of CAMx and WRFCAMx. To reproduce the WAQS Base11b simulation, the winter configuration should only be used for December 2010 though March 31, 2011.

Model performance evaluation products for simulation 2011b will be posted as they become available.

The table below lists the 2011b air quality modeling platform components. These components cover only the input data to the chemistry-transport models. For information on data further up the processing chain, such as the emissions inventories used as inputs to SMOKE, refer to the Wiki pages for the different components.

Type	Option	Source	Description	Notes/References
Modeling Software
	CAMx v6.10	ENVIRON	Chemistry-transport model configured with CB6r2 photochemistry	www.camx.com
	WRF v3.5.1	NOAA	Regional climate model configured for simulating meteorology over the Inter-mountain West	www.wrf-model.org
	SMOKEv3.5.1	UNC-IE	Emissions processor for preparing emissions inventory and ancillary data for input to chemistry-transport models	www.smoke-model.org
Emissions Data
	Emissions v2011b	WAQS	2011 emissions data prepared for CAMx and CMAQ with SMOKE	WAQS 2011b Emissions
	Emissions v2025_11b	WAQS	2025 emissions data prepared for CAMx and CMAQ with SMOKE	WAQS 2025 Emissions
Meteorology Data
	Meteorology v2011a	3SAQS	2011 meteorology data estimated with WRF and prepared for CAMx with WRFCAMx	This WRF simulation includes a wintertime O3 configuration to improve the representation of cold air pools WAQS 2011b Meteorology Evaluation report
Initial and Boundary Condition Data
	MOZART ICBCs	NOAA/3SAQS	2011 Initial/Boundary Conditions from NOAA global GEOS5 MOZART simulations; prepared for CAMx with MZ2CAMx; fine and coarse mode dust and sea salt removed.	While the ozone and inorganic PM model performance with the MZ BC's was generally acceptable in simulation Base2011a (see 3SAQS CAMx B11a MPE report), the total PM2.5 concentrations were too high. The 3SAQS modeling team removed the dust and sea salt from the MOZART (MZ) boundary conditions to mitigate CAMx total PM2.5 model performance problems. Wiki
Other Input Data
	Ozone Columns	NASA	Daily ozone column data processed for CAMx using the utility AHOMAPv4	Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer/Ozone Monitoring Instrument
	Chemistry Parameters	ENVIRON	CAMxv6.10 chemistry parameters files for CB6r2 and aerosol module CF
	Landuse	ENVIRON	NALC data merged with Leaf Area Index data using ArcGIS macros, Perl, and Fortran
	Total UV columns	ENVIRON	Daily photolysis rates calculated using TUV v4.8	Average values for typical snow cover. These data do not simulate the more reflective white snow that typically occurs during winter high ozone events in southwest Wyoming and the Uinta Basin in Utah.
Model Performance
	Air Quality Observations	N/A	N/A	List of aerometric data used to evaluation the 2011 CAMx and CMAQ simulations; 2011 Observational Data
	Meteorology MPE report	N/A	3SAQS	Report detailing the methods and results of determining the quality of the 3SAQS 2011 WRF modeling; 2011 WRF MPE Report
	Air Quality MPE report	N/A	WAQS	Report detailing the methods and results of determining the quality of the WAQS 2011 air quality modeling; MPE Report Coming Soon
	Evaluation glossary	N/A	WAQS	Glossary of Evaluation Products
Output Data
	CAMx Base11b	WAQS	Output data from a 2011 36/12/4-km domain CAMx simulation with MOZART boundary conditions	Wiki
	CMAQ Base11b	WAQS	Output data from a 2011 36/12/4-km domain CMAQ simulation with MOZART boundary conditions	In progress
	CAMx Base25a_11	WAQS	Output data from a 2011-based 2025 36/12/4-km domain CAMx simulation with MOZART boundary conditions	Coming Soon
	CMAQ Base25a_11	WAQS	Output data from a 2011-based 2025 36/12/4-km domain CMAQ simulation with MOZART boundary conditions	Coming Soon