Brazilian coastal region modeling with WRF/SMOKE/CMAQ and atmospheric parameter measurement validation with radio probing, Sodar and Lidar

Abstract

This article aims to evaluate and compare data of vertical potential temperature profile, wind velocity and PM10 concentration measured during an experimental campaign on July 2012 by means of radio probing, Sonic Detection And Ranging (SODAR) and Light Detection And Ranging (LIDAR) with those modeled by means of numerical simulation with Weather Research And Forecast Model (WRF), Sparse Matrix Operator Kernel Emissions (SMOKE) and Community Multi-Scale Air Quality (CMAQ). The study has been conducted at Região da Grande Vitória (RGV), a Brazilian coastal region. All data measurements have been done at Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo (UFES), in the city of Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil. For numerical simulation, RGV's emissions inventory has been used to model a 61x79km2 grid with spatial resolution of 1 km2 and temporal resolution of 1 hour. Sea breeze is a relevant weather phenomenon along coastal regions, and it has been perceived by both SODAR measurement and WRFmodeling. During the experimental campaign, the most intense sea breeze occurred on July 28, 2012 and, therefore, a thorough analysis of atmospheric and pollution parameters has been done for that day. This analysis showed neutral atmosphere up to 200 meters of altitude and stability beyond that, which has been confirmed by WRFmodeling. Regarding wind data, the comparison between SODAR measurement and WRFmodeling showed similarities regarding wind direction, but wind speed was overestimated by WRF. Lastly, LIDAR measurement and CMAQmodeling showed close values for PM10 pollutant concentration.