The Implementation of a Dust Wet Deposition Scheme in the WRF-CHEM Model

Abstract

The fully coupled Weather Research and Forecasting/Chemistry (WRF/Chem) model includes various schemes for the simulation of the atmospheric chemistry. The air quality component of the model is fully consistent with the meteorological component; both components use the same transport scheme (mass and scalar preserving), the same grid (horizontal and vertical components), and the same physics schemes for subgrid-scale transport. The Georgia Tech/ Goddard Global Ozone Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) module is applied as it provides an integrated sectional scheme for dust emissions and advection. However, the GOCART aerosol module does not support indirect effects or wet scavenging/deposition schemes regarding cloud interactions. Thus, the main aim of this study is the development of a dust wet deposition scheme based on the parameterizations proposed by Seinfeld and Pandis (1998) and its implementation into the GOCART module. The integrity and the performance of the WRF/Chem model using the revised GOCART scheme is evaluated in a case study of Saharan dust transport event accompanied by severe wet deposition over Greece.