An Evaluation of the UAM-V Predicted Concentrations of Carbon Monoxide and Reactive Nitrogen Compounds over the Eastern United States during Summer 1995

Abstract

While there is a clear need to evaluate a photochemical model’s ability in predicting not only the concentrations of O3 but also precursors and other trace species, many previous studies have focused only on the assessment of O3 During the 1995 summer season, in addition to the routine monitoring of criteria pollutants, several research-oriented monitoring campaigns were conducted over the eastern United States, providing an extensive database of O3, reactive nitrogen compounds, CO, and speciated hydrocarbon data. In this study, we examine the ability of a photochemical modeling system, RAMS/UAM-V, to reproduce the measured concentrations of CO, NO2, and NOy over the region during the summer of 1995. The results demonstrate that there is agreement between modeled and measured seasonal average concentrations of NO2, both at the routine and research monitors. The same is true for NOy, but to a lesser degree. However, the model is found to significantly underpredict CO for the routine monitors in comparison to the research monitors.