A regional air quality model over the Kanto region of Japan: The effect of the physics parameterization on the meteorological and chemical fields

Abstract

The effects of physics parameterization on meteorological and chemical fields were examined over the Kanto region of Japan using an air quality (AQ) model, which consists of two chemistry transport models: the global model CHASER and the regional model WRF/Chem. For hindcast experiments without a chemical module for June–July in 2005 and 2006, two non-local planetary boundary layer (PBL) schemes (Yonsei University YSU and NCEP GFS) showed a deeper PBL height and a stronger sea-breeze related with warmer surface temperature than for the observation and the local PBL scheme (Mellor-Yamada level 2.5). Two experiments with a chemical module for July–August in 2005 clarified that NCEP GFS scheme transported O3 plumes to higher altitudes above 2 km and also produced a higher concentration near the surface than for Mellor-Yamada scheme.