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Impact of Meteorological Models on Aerosol Liquid Water Predictions
ALYSSA BURNS, Virendra Ghate, Amy Christiansen, Annmarie Carlton, University of California, Irvine
Abstract Number: 550
Working Group: Aerosol Chemistry
Abstract
Meteorological reanalysis datasets are critical to understanding the fate and transport of trace species in the atmosphere. For example, air quality models employ meteorological models nudged to reanalysis data to drive physical transport and some emissions. Relative humidity, temperature, and planetary boundary layer depth are routinely utilized in comparisons to remotely sensed aerosol optical depth (AOD) or paired with surface measurements of aerosol chemical composition to calculate aerosol liquid water content (ALW). A comprehensive investigation of reanalysis meteorological products in the context of particle chemical composition is necessary to ensure adequate predictive skill of air quality models. In this work, we investigate two reanalysis datasets, the North American Regional Reanalysis (NARR) and the European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERA5, and the resulting impacts on ALW predictions. We evaluate the NARR and ERA5 and subsequent estimates of ALW with measurements made during the Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study (SOAS). Significant differences in ALW mass concentrations are observed when the different data products are used, and when RH is calculated using dew point versus specific humidity.