Performance evaluation of chemistry transport models over India

Moorthy, Krishna K and Beegum, Naseema S and Srivastava, N and Satheesh, SK and Chin, Mian and Blond, Nadege and Babu, Suresh S and Singh, S (2013) Performance evaluation of chemistry transport models over India. In: Atmospheric Environment, 71 . pp. 210-225.

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Abstract

Using continuous and near-real time measurements of the mass concentrations of black carbon (BC) aerosols near the surface, for a period of 1 year (from January to December 2006) from a network of eight observatories spread over different environments of India, a space-time synthesis is generated. The strong seasonal variations observed, with a winter high and summer low, are attributed to the combined effects of changes in synoptic air mass types, modulated strongly by the atmospheric boundary layer dynamics. Spatial distribution shows much higher BC concentration over the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) than the peninsular Indian stations. These were examined against the simulations using two chemical transport models, GOCART (Goddard Global Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport) and CHIMERE for the first time over Indian region. Both the model simulations significantly deviated from the measurements at all the stations; more so during the winter and pre-monsoon seasons and over mega cities. However, the CHIMERE model simulations show better agreement compared with the measurements. Notwithstanding this, both the models captured the temporal variations; at seasonal and subseasonal timescales and the natural variabilities (intra-seasonal oscillations) fairly well, especially at the off-equatorial stations. It is hypothesized that an improvement in the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) parameterization scheme for tropical environment might lead to better results with GOCART.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	Atmospheric Environment
Publisher:	Elsevier Science
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belongs to Elsevier Science.
Keywords:	Aerosols; Black Carbon; Chemistry Transport Models
Department/Centre:	Division of Mechanical Sciences > Divecha Centre for Climate Change Division of Mechanical Sciences > Centre for Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences
Date Deposited:	21 Jun 2013 05:01
Last Modified:	21 Jun 2013 05:01
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/46714

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