Assimilation of GOES Hourly Aerosol Optical Depths in a Regional Air Quality Model to Improve PM2.5 Predictions

Considerable progress has been made in the last decade in the use of satellite data for air quality monitoring and forecasting applications. Despite the advances in satellite data applications, many challenges remain in using the data on a day to day basis. Especially, chemical satellite data assimilation has not really advanced beyond applications involving a single observable parameter such as ozone or Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD). This work demonstrates the improvements to NOAA Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model predicted particulate matter (PM2.5, particles smaller than 2.5 microns in median diameter) by assimilating GOES hourly AOD observations. This will be contrasted with the impact of assimilation of AODs from a polar-orbiting satellite, Aqua/Terra MODIS, which has a considerably less coverage. Model simulations for this study include an east coast regional haze episode due to urban/industrial pollution from August 2-6, 2006. Spatial and temporal analysis of the impact of AOD assimilation on surface PM2.5 for this episode will be presented.