ALBERT

Description: An aerosol-coupled global nonhydrostatic model with a stretched-grid system has been developed. Circulations over the global and target domains are simulated with a single model, which includes fine meshes covering the target region to calculate meso-scale circulations. The stretched global model involves lower computational costs to simulate atmospheric aerosols with fine horizontal resolutions compared with a global uniform nonhydrostatic model, whereas it may require higher computational costs compared with the general regional models, because the stretched-grid system calculates inside and outside the target domain. As opposed to general regional models, the stretched-grid system requires neither a nesting technique nor lateral boundary conditions. In this study, we developed a new-type regional model for the simulation of aerosols over Japan, especially in the Kanto areas surrounding Tokyo, with a maximum horizontal resolution of approximately 10 km. This model usually reproduces temporal variations and their averages of the observed weather around Japan. This model generally reproduces monthly mean distributions of the observed sulfate and SO2 over East Asia, with high correlations (R 〉 0.6), but the underestimation of the simulated concentrations by 40% (sulfate) and 50% (SO2). Their underestimation of the simulated sulfate and SO2 concentrations over East Asia are strongly affected by their underestimation in China and possibly by the uncertainty of the simulated precipitation around Japan. In the Kanto area, this model succeeds in simulating the wind patterns and the diurnal transitions around the center of the Kanto area, although it is inadequate to simulate the wind patterns and the diurnal transitions at some sites located at the edge of the Kanto area and surrounded on three sides by mountains, e.g., Maebashi, mainly due to the insufficient horizontal resolution. This model also generally reproduces both diurnal and synoptic variations of the observed and/or a regional aerosol-transport model, WRF-CMAQ, simulated EC, sulfate, and SO2 concentrations in the Kanto area, especially with their high correlation (R 〉 0.5) at Komae/Tokyo. Although the aerosol module used in this study is relatively simplified compared to the general regional aerosol models, this study reveals that our proposed model with the stretched-grid system can be applicable for the regional aerosol simulation.

Description: An aerosol-coupled global nonhydrostatic model with a stretched-grid system has been developed. Circulations over the global and target domains are simulated with a single model, which includes fine meshes covering the target region to calculate meso-scale circulations. The stretched global model involves relatively low computational costs to simulate atmospheric aerosols with fine horizontal resolutions compared with a global uniform nonhydrostatic model. As opposed to general regional models, neither a nesting technique nor boundary conditions are required. In this study, we developed a new air-quality model for the simulation of areas surrounding Tokyo, Japan, with a maximum horizontal resolution of approximately 10 km. We determined that this model was capable of simulating meteorological fields and anthropogenic primary particles, e.g., elemental carbon, and secondary particles, such as sulfate, with comparable results to those found with in-situ measurements and with other regional models. By combining the meteorological fields obtained from an atmosphere-ocean coupled model, we also applied the new model to a climate scenario experiment of PM2.5 (aerosol particles with diameters less than 2.5 μm) over Japan with a high horizontal resolution to assess the public health impact at the prefecture scale.