EURODELTA III exercise: An evaluation of air quality models' capacity to reproduce the carbonaceous aerosol

The carbonaceous aerosol accounts for an important part of total aerosol mass, affects human health and climate through its effects on physical and chemical properties of the aerosol, yet the understanding of its atmospheric sources and sinks is still incomplete. This study shows the state-of-the-art in modelling carbonaceous aerosol over Europe...

Evaluation of seven chemistry transport models in the framework of eurodelta III intercomparison exercise

The EURODELTA III (ED-III) exercise aimed to perform a comprehensive chemistry transport model inter-comparison study exploiting the data from four intensive measurement campaigns carried out by EMEP. The campaigns were held in different seasons (1–30 June 2006; 8 January–4 February 2007; 17 September–15 October 2008; 25 February–26 March 2009)...

Curriculum vitae of the LOTOS–EUROS (v2.0) chemistry transport model

The development and application of chemistry transpor tmodels has a long tradition. Within the Netherlands the LOTOS–EUROS model has been developed by a consortium of institutes, after combining its independently developed predecessors in 2005. Recently, version 2.0 of the model was released as an open-source version. This paper presents the...

Performance of European chemistry transport models as function of horizontal resolution

Air pollution causes adverse effects on human health as well as ecosystems and crop yield and also has an impact on climate change trough short-lived climate forcers. To design mitigation strategies for air pollution, 3D Chemistry Transport Models (CTMs) have been developed to support the decision process. Increases in model resolution may...

Response of SIA concentrations across Germany to emission changes during PM10 episodes in Spring 2009

The Chemistry Transport Model (CTM) REM-Calgrid (RCG) has been applied to investigate the non-linear relationship between emission changes and modelled SIA (=SO4 + NO3 + NH4) concentrations for a high PM10 episode in spring 2009. Emissions were reduced for the model domain only and the model domain including Boundary Conditions. It was found...

Impact of emission changes on secondary inorganic aerosol episodes across Germany

In this study, the response of secondary inorganic aerosol (SIA) concentrations to changes in precursor emissions during high PM10 episodes over central Europe in spring 2009 was investigated with the Eulerian Chemistry Transport Model (CTM) REM-Calgrid (RCG). The model performed well in capturing the temporal variation of PM10 and SIA...

Einrichtung einer umweltzone und ihre wirksamkeit auf die PM10-feinstaubkonzentration - Eine pilotanalyse am beispiel München (Introduction of a low-emission zone and the effect on air pollutant concentration of particulate matter (PM10) - A pilot study in Munich)

Since the introduction of low emission zones in Germany in 2008 the question of their efficiency has been debated. In this pilot study, measurement data collected before and after the introduction of the low emission zone in Munich (October 2007 until January 2008 vs. October 2008 until Januar 2009) were analysed on the basis of matched...

Implementation and evaluation of pH-dependent cloud chemistry and wetdeposition in the chemical transport model REM-Calgrid

The Chemistry Transport Model REM-Calgrid (RCG) has been improved by implementing an enhanced description of aqueous-phase chemistry and wet deposition processes including droplet pH. A sensitivity study on cloud and rain droplet pH has been performed to investigate its impact on model sulphate production and gas wet scavenging. Air...

Abatement strategies to reduce air pollution from transport in Germany

Large scale exceedances of PM₁₀ and N0₂ ambient air limit values will continue in Germany despite the implementation of national and international policies. An integrated approach has therefore been developed to assess different cost-effective mitigation strategies for all source groups on a national level. On-road and ofT...

Skill and uncertainty of a regional air quality model ensemble

Recently several regional air quality projects were carried out to support the negotiation under the Clean Air For Europe (CAFE) programme by predicting the impact of emission control policies with an ensemble of models. Within these projects, CITYDELTA and EURODELTA, the fate of air quality at the scale of European cities or that of the...

A model inter-comparison study focussing on episodes with elevated PM10 concentrations

Five three-dimensional chemical transport models of different complexity were applied to Central Europe to assess the ability of models to reproduce PM10 concentrations under highly polluted conditions. The participating models were the French CHIMERE model, the Dutch LOTOS-EUROS model, as well as the REM-CALGRID, the EURAD and the LM-MUSCAT...

Development of an integrated approach for the assessment of abatement strategies of Particulate Matter concentrations in Germany = Entwicklung Eines Integrierten Ansatzes für die Bewertung von Strategien zur Verminderung der Feinstaubbelastung in Deutschland

According to projected and modelled ambient air concentrations, large scale exceedances of PM10 limit values in Germany will continue despite implementation of current national and international legislation. Identification of the causes of these (current and projected) exceedances is crucial to develop successful mitigation options. Furthermore,...

Evaluation of long-term ozone simulations from seven regional air quality models and their ensemble

Long-term ozone simulations from seven regional air quality models, the Unified EMEP model, LOTOS-EUROS, CHIMERE, RCG, MATCH, DEHM and TM5, are intercompared and compared to ozone measurements within the framework of the EuroDelta experiment, designed to assess air quality improvement at the European scale in response to emission reduction...

Evaluation and intercomparison of Ozone and PM10 simulations by several chemistry transport models over four European cities within the CityDelta project

The CityDelta project Cuvelier et al. [2006. CityDelta: a model intercomparison study to explore the impact of emission reductions in European cities in 2010. Atmospheric Environment] is designed to evaluate the air quality response of several emission abatement scenarios for 2010 at the scale of the European continent, and specifically in the...

Is regional air quality model diversity representative of uncertainty for ozone simulation?

We examine whether seven state-of-the-art European regional air quality models provide daily ensembles of predicted ozone maxima that encompass observations. Using tools borrowed from the evaluation of ensemble weather forecasting, we analyze statistics of simulated ensembles of ozone daily maxima over an entire summer season. Although the model...

Comparison of model results obtained with several European regional air quality models

An intercomparison study has been performed with four photo-oxidant dispersion models (EMEP, EURAD, LOTOS and REM3) which are currently capable of performing photo-oxidant formation calculations over larger path of Europe. The models, in principle, were run in the mode in which they are normally used, with their own input data and process...