As part of an informal air quality model verification project within the ICARTT/NEAQS 2004 study and to provide daily operational guidance, weather and pollution forecasts were produced in near real time (typically 4 to 6 hours computational delay) at the NOAA Forecast Systems Laboratory using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) chemistry model. The WRF-Chemistry model system is an online, or fully-coupled model in the sense that the chemistry and aerosol routines are solved in conjunction with the meteorology forecast model. In other words, the interaction and transport of meteorological, chemical, and aerosol species are calculated using the same physical parameterizations with no need to interpolate in time and/or space.
The presentation will cover the WRF-Chemistry model, the real-time forecast configuration and emissions used during the ICARTT/NEAQS 2004 field study. In addition, the model forecast products and their use in daily operations guidance for this field study will be discussed.