Multiscale air quality modeling of the Northeastern United States

Abstract

The Urban and Regional Multiscale (URM) model has been used to study the ozone problem in the northeastern United States. The model was applied to a multiday ozone episode extending from 2 July 1988 to 8 July 1988. The URM model is particularly suitable for application to the Northeast as there is a dense network of urban centers along with large rural areas, and the model allows the use of variable grid sizes to effectively capture the pollutant dynamics while being computationally efficient. This study particularly concentrates on how spatial grid resolution affects results, particularly in the Northeast Corridor, a string of urban centers extending from Washington D.C. to Boston. Three different grid systems are employed in the model simulations to examine this issue. The most dynamic grid system uses grid sizes varying from 4.625 to 74 km, with the finest grids concentrated in the Northeast Corridor. The uniform grid system uses a uniform grid size of 18.5 km similar to that used in the regional oxidant model (ROM). The intermediate grid system uses grid sizes varying from 4.625 to 18.5 km. When finer grids are used over the urban areas, as in the intermediate and the most dynamic grid systems, the model predicted higher peak ozone concentrations with greater detail. Sensitivity calculations were performed to quantify the effect of various inputs on the predicted ozone. Effects of zeroing the initial conditions persisted until 7 July 1988. When using background levels of species concentrations as initial conditions, the effect lasted only for two days of simulation. Boundary conditions impacted the ozone concentrations near the boundary cells only. Emission inputs were the major factor in producing the large concentrations of ozone predicted in the Northeast Corridor. The URM model was also used to study ozone control strategy issues in the Northeast Corridor. A suite of simulations was performed where anthropogenic NO x and VOC emission levels were reducd uniformly over the whole domain to determine the impact on ozone. Both VOC and NO x controls reduced the peak ozone in the Corridor, with NO x control working better than VOC control at high levels of control.