AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study (SOAS); A Modelling Perspective
PETROS VASILAKOS, Yongtao Hu, Jack Lin, Lu Xu, Nga Lee Ng, Armistead Russell, Athanasios Nenes, Georgia Institute of Technology
Abstract Number: 457 Working Group: Air Quality and Climate in the Southeast US: Insights from Recent Measurement Campaigns
Abstract The impact of bio-produced aerosols on climate, as well as air quality, innately carry large uncertainties, given our incomplete understanding of the mechanisms that lead to their production. The recent SOAS campaign was focused on addressing the fundamental questions that arise from these uncertainties, such as what are the impacts of anthropogenic activities to biogenic secondary organic aerosol (SOA) production.
To complement the SOAS study, we simulated the dynamics of primary and secondary pollutants during the SOAS campaign using the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) model, driven by forecasted meteorology from the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model. Biogenic emissions and land use will be provided from the Biogenic Emissions Inventory System version 3 (BEIS3). Both ground and aloft measurements are used for comparison.
Preliminary, 36-km resolution, ground level results and statistical analysis indicate that CMAQ is able to effectively capture, both quantitatively and qualitatively, the evolution of most SOA species, coming from gas phase monoterpene, sesqueterpene and isoprene oxidation.
By carrying out additional sensitivity and statistical analyses using our CMAQ results and measurements, we assess the link between SOA and factors leading to their formation, in order to elucidate some of the uncertainties linked to SOA formation.