Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Response of Atmospheric Model Predictions at Different Grid Resolutions

Maudood Khan*, Arastoo Biazar, Bill Crosson and Mohammad Alhamdan

National Space Science and Technology Center,George C. Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL 35805

6th Annual Community Modeling and Analysis Systems (CMAS) conferenceOctober 1-3, 2007, Chapel Hill, NC

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Outline

• Background Research – Application to Atlanta– “Development and Validation of Improved Air Quality Modeling

system using High Resolution Remote sensing data”

• NLCD vs. USGS– Differences in classification– Statistics– Spatial plots (at 36-km and 12-km resolution)

• Preliminary meteorological modeling (i.e., WRF) at 36-km grid resolution– Skin and 2-m temperature– Wind speed and direction

• Next steps

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land surface characterization in atmospheric models

• Land surface characteristics (e.g., albedo, surface roughness, fractional vegetative cover) exert a significant influence on the surface energy budget– Most atmospheric models employ the 24-category USGS dataset– Seasonal or monthly values for these parameters are defined within

meteorological models as a function of Land Use Land Cover (LULC) type via a lookup table

• Objective: Improve the Air Quality Management Decision Support System (AQMDSS) through use high resolution LULC data– Improvement in baseline model predictions

• Process high resolution LULC data for the domain• Conduct meteorological and air quality modeling simulations and quantify the

improvement in model predictions– Improved decision making

• Predict future LULC change due to urbanization• Conduct meteorological and air quality modeling simulations and quantify the

resulting changes in urban meteorology and air quality• Evaluate Urban Heat Island mitigation strategies

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

UrbanCrops/Pasture MosaicGrass/Crops MosaicWoodland/Crops MosaicShrubsDeciduous ForestEvergreen ForestMixed ForestWater

USGS LULC aggregated to 4 km

Combined NLCD and LandPro99 LULC aggregated

to 4 km

‘Crops/Pasture Mosaic’

‘Medium Density

Residential’

Low Density ResidentialMed. Density ResidentialHigh Density ResidentialCommercial/ServicesInstitutionalTCUIndustrial/CommercialWaterCrops/PastureRow CropsDeciduous ForestEvergreen ForestMixed ForestWoody WetlandsQuarries/Mines/Gravel PitsTransitional

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

10m air temperature 17 August, 2000 @ 21 UTC

°C

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

9 day mean difference in PBL heights(NLCD/LandPro99 – USGS)

2:00 PM2:00 PM 7:00 PM7:00 PM

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

9-day mean surface winds at 7pm

USGSUSGS NLCD/LandPro99NLCD/LandPro99

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

On-going work

• Implementation of NLCD within WRF and CMAQ modeling system

• Science/modeling question:– Boundary layer evolution over urban and sub-

urban areas and its effect on the vertical distribution of pollutants (especially at night)

• Applied science/regulatory issue:– Urbanization and its effect on local climate, air

pollution and energy demand

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

USGS: 24 categoryUrban and Built-Up landDryland Cropland and PastureIrrigated Cropland and PastureMixed Dryland/Irrigated Cropland and PastureCropland/Grassland MosaicCropland/Woodland MosaicGrasslandShrublandMixed Shrubland/GrasslandSavannaDecidous Broadleaf ForestDecidous Needleaf ForestEvergreeen Broadleaf ForestEvergreen Needleaf ForestMixed ForestWater BodiesHarbaceous WoodWooded WetlandBarren or Sparsely vegetatedHarbaceous TundraWooded TundraMixed TundraBare Ground TundraSnow or Ice

Developed, Open SpaceDeveloped, Low IntensityDeveloped, Medium Intensity Developed, High Intensity Barren Land (Rock/Sand/Clay)Deciduous ForestEvergreen ForestMixed ForestShrub/ScrubGrasslands/HerbaceousPasture/HayCultivated CropsWoody WetlandsEmergent Herbaceous Wetlands

NLCD

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

MM5/WRF look-up tablesLANDUSE.TBLVEGPARAM.TBLSOILPARAM.TBLGENPARAM.TBL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Surface roughness: NLCD minus USGS

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Thermal inertia:NLCD minus USGS

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Soil moisture availability: NLCD minus USGS

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Skin temperature at 2000 UTC(NLCD minus USGS)

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Skin temperature at 0500 UTC (NLCD minus USGS)

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

2-m temperature at 0500 UTC (NLCD minus USGS)

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

2-m temperature difference

0500 UTC2000 UTC

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

10-m wind speed at 2000 UTC (NLCD minus USGS)

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

10-m wind speed at 0500 UTC (NLCD minus USGS)

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

2-m temperature at 2000 UTC (NLCD minus USGS)

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

2-m temperature at 0500 UTC (NLCD minus USGS)

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Next steps

• Code review followed by a more detailed evaluation of the modeling results

• Complete modifications to MCIP

• Conduct CMAQ simulations

• Evaluation

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Acknowledgements

• NASA Applied Sciences program

• James Boylan, Georgia EPD

• Jonathan Case, SPoRT, NSSTC

• Fei Chen, NCAR

• Rob Gilliam, NOAA/EPA

Land Processes Group, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Thank You