Numerical simulations for biomass burning aerosol transport in northern Thailand

Abstract

This paper presents the evaluation of a numerical biomass burning aerosol transport simulation system developed for northern Thailand. The simulation system is composed of the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) employing its best physics options, global gridded analyses from the NCEP FNL (Final) Operational Global Analysis data, global emission data from the REanalysis of the TROpospheric chemical composition over the past 40 years (RETRO) and the Emission Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR), and biomass burning emission data from the Brazilian Biomass Burning Emissions Model (3BEM). The simulated hourly averaged particulate matters with diameters less than 10 micron (PM10) at 5-km resolution covering the 3-month period of February – April of 2015 were evaluated using measurements from 13 ground stations distributed in northern Thailand. Results show that the numerical biomass burning aerosol transport simulation system can predict the times when hourly averaged PM10 dry mass concentrations are high and low well. Simulations are negatively biased for concentrations above 200 µg/m3 and are slightly positively biased otherwise. The simulations have good utility for concentrations above 100 µg/m3 and are useful for all concentration ranges.