Preliminary sensitivity analysis of urban airshed model simulations to temporal and spatial availability of boundary layer wind measurements

The 1992 Atlanta Field Intensive of the Southern Oxidants Research Program on Ozone Non-Attainment (SORP-ONA) provided a unique data set of urban meteorological measurements. The data were used to investigate the sensitivity of Urban Airshed Model (UAM-IV) results to the spatial and temporal resolution of upper-air meteorological measurements. RMS differences and average absolute deviations for winds and model calculated NOy and O3 values were computed for a variety of measurement strategies which differed in the spatial and temporal resolution of the upper-air data. A Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model (LPDM) was used to study the movement of the plumes from the Atlanta urban core and an elevated power plant located northwest of Atlanta. The results show that placement of upper-air measurements at or near the center of emissions density should be highest priority of field measurements campaigns