Evaluation of NARCM using aircraft observation from NARE
The Northern Aerosol Regional Climate Model (NARCM) is being developed in order to better understand how aerosols affect the Canadian climate. NARCM uses microphysical and chemical parameterizations that enable it to predict the evolution of the aerosol spectrum using the concentration and compositi...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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McGill University
2001
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| Online Access: | http://digitool.Library.McGill.CA:80/R/?func=dbin-jump-full&object_id=33852 |
| Summary: | The Northern Aerosol Regional Climate Model (NARCM) is being developed in order to better understand how aerosols affect the Canadian climate. NARCM uses microphysical and chemical parameterizations that enable it to predict the evolution of the aerosol spectrum using the concentration and composition in 12 size-segregated bins as prognostic variables. In this study, two aerosol species are considered as prognostic variables within NARCM: sulphate and sea-salt. The sulphur species concentrations and aerosol distributions simulated by NARCM are evaluated against clear-sky in-situ aircraft measurement taken off the coast of Nova Scotia during the North Atlantic Regional Experiment (HARE). NARCM demonstrates skill at predicting the column burdens of the sulphur species concentrations at the NARE site throughout the NARE period. Simulations of the average column burdens of sulphur dioxide and sulphate showed differences of 57% and 28% respectively from the observed values. The accumulation mode in the aerosol distributions simulated by NARCM has a tendency to be smaller than the measured mode. There is evidence that the absence of other aerosol species may account for the too small sizes of the simulated aerosol when sulphate volumes are small. |
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