ARL Weekly News – (April 15, 2024)
| Upcoming Events |
Open House at ATDD
As part of ARL’s 75th Anniversary celebrations, the Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division in Oak Ridge, TN, is hosting an open house event the week of April 22. Attendees will have the chance to talk to the scientists, engineers, and technicians conducting the research. Several stations set around the grounds will demonstrate the ways we gather data.
| Recent Events |
New HYSPLIT Version 1.7.25
National Weather Service HYSPLIT version 1.7.25 was deployed on April 18, 2024 to NOAA Web Operations Center. Compared with the previous version, the new version has lots of bug fixes to the graphical display and it supports use of training meteorology data for chemical ensemble runs and prescribed burns. This new version will prove useful for an upcoming NWS training for HYSPLIT.
Community Engagement
On April 15, John Kochendorfer visited Gresham Middle school to discuss ARL/ATDD research and the work of a scientist. He spoke to 5 separate classes, and a total of about 200 students.
| Presentations |
United Forecast System Webinar
Dr. Patrick Campbell collaborated with Dr. Jiainping Huang (of NOAA EMC) on a two-part UFS-Webinar on April 11th, speaking on research and development of the NOAA’s Next-Generation Air Quality Model (UFS-AQM).
Part I Dr. Jianping Huang (NOAA EMC): “The UFS-AQM Online Prediction System for Enhanced Wildfire Predictability”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has developed an advanced regional air quality (AQ) forecasting system within the Unified Forecast System (UFS), aimed at improving the representation of wildfire emissions and their impact on air quality predictions. The system couples the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model with the UFS-based atmospheric model in an online mode, utilizing satellite-derived fire data, Regional Hourly Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Emissions (RAVE), for calculating fire emissions. The UFS-AQM system has been approved to replace the existing operational prediction model. In this presentation, I will provide an overview of the UFS-AQM online system. I will also present case studies demonstrating its superior performance in predicting particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) concentrations during intense wildfire events in the summer of 2023. Furthermore, comprehensive evaluations of the UFS-AQM will be presented to demonstrate its readiness for operational implementation. Finally, I will outline future plans aimed at enhancing NOAA’s regional air quality prediction system further.
Part II Dr. Patrick Campbell (NOAA ARL): “Ongoing Research and Developments for NOAA’s Next Generation Air Quality Model”
The next-generation Unified Forecast System Air Quality Model (UFS-AQM) has been developed at NOAA. The UFS-AQM includes many novel advancements including a more flexible inline emissions modeling system and near real time, hourly biomass burning emissions that improve air quality predictions over the U.S. The UFS-AQM, however, is poised to benefit from recent scientific updates to its main chemical component (the Community Multiscale Air Quality model, i.e., CMAQ), as well as other research and developments to the emissions and air-surface exchange processes in the system. Here we will present our work on major science updates to the UFS-AQM, which includes advancements to the chemistry, emissions, and air surface exchange processes such as atmosphere-biosphere interactions.
European Geosciences Union General Assembly Poster Presentation
During EGU, Dr. Barry Baker presented a poster titled: “Advancements made to NOAA’s FENGSHA dust emission scheme within the Unified Forecast System with applications to regional air quality and subseasonal to seasonal forecasting“
He was also part of five other presentations given by others, including:
Unifying Atmospheric Composition in the Unified Forecasting System Through UFS-Chem Development
NOAA’s Next-Generation Air Quality Predictions for the United States