Abstract
This study evaluates the performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) for simulating biomass burning aerosol transport at high resolution in the tropics using two different biomass burning emission inventories. Hourly, daily, and monthly average PM10 dry mass concentrations at 5 km resolution—simulated separately using the Brazilian Biomass Burning Emission Model (WRF-3BEM) and the Fire Inventory from NCAR (WRF-FINN) and their averages (WRF-AVG) for 3 months from February to April—are evaluated, using measurements from ground stations distributed in northern Thailand for 2014 and 2015. Results show that WRF-3BEM agrees well with observations and performs much better than WRF-FINN and WRF-AVG. WRF-3BEM simulations are almost unbiased, while those of WRF-FINN and WRF-AVG are significantly overestimated due to significant overestimates of FINN emissions. WRF-3BEM and the measured monthly average PM10 concentrations for all stations and both years are 89.22 and 87.20 μg m−3, respectively. The root mean squared error of WRF-3BEM simulated monthly average PM10 concentrations is 72.00 and 47.01% less than those of WRF-FINN and WRF-AVG, respectively. The correlation coefficient of WRF-3BEM simulated monthly PM10 concentrations and measurements is 0.89. WRF-3BEM can provide useful biomass burning aerosol transport simulations for the northern region of Thailand.
Highlights
Thailand is an agricultural country, where nearly half of all Thai workforce is in the agricultural sector
Since this study focuses on particulate matters less than 10 μm (PM10) concentrations near the ground, the performance of the model for simulating near-surface wind fields is important
The comparisons of Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF)-3BEM and WRF-FINN with measurements show that WRF-3BEM agrees with measurements much better than WRF-FINN does for most stations and both years
Summary
Thailand is an agricultural country, where nearly half of all Thai workforce is in the agricultural sector. Biomass burning is the main cause for the smoke haze episode covering a large area of the northern region of Thailand in every cold season. Biomass burning in the region is mainly related to agricultural activities. Open biomass burning occurs both before harvesting to facilitate harvesting operations, and after harvesting to get rid of crop residues in preparation for a new planting season. Most forest fires are mainly caused by human activities [1]. Burning crop residues in agricultural industries—e.g., the sugarcane industry—is a main cause of biomass burning
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