An exploration of measures for comparing measurements with the results from meteorological models for Mexico City

Los Alamos National Laboratory and Instituto Mexicano del Petrَleo have completed a joint study of options for improving air quality in Mexico City. We used a three-dimensional, prognostic, higher-order turbulence model for atmospheric circulation (HOTMAC) to treat domains that include an urbanized area. We tested the model against routine measurements and those of a major field program. During the field program, measurements included: (1) lidar measurements of aerosol transport and dispersion, (2) aircraft measurements of winds, turbulence, and chemical species aloft, (3) aircraft measurements of skin temperatures, and (4) Tethersonde measurements of winds and ozone. We made both graphical and statistical comparisons and we have reported some of the comparisons to provide insight into the meaning of statistical parameters including the index of agreement.