PNNL

Abstract

In order to address scientific questions related to aerosol chemistry and meteorological-aerosol-radiation-cloud feedbacks at the urban to regional scale, scientists at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have made substantial contributions to the chemistry version of the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF-Chem) during the past one and a half years. These contributions include an additional gas-phase chemistry mechanism, a sectional aerosol module, an additional photolysis module, feedbacks between aerosols and radiation, and extending the nesting capability of WRF to include the chemistry scalars. During the development process, a number of limitations in WRF have been identified that complicate adding all the desired chemistry capabilities as originally planned. These issues will be discussed along with changes that have been made to help mitigate some of them. Mechanisms currently in development will also be discussed including a secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mechanism for the sectional aerosol module, aqueous chemistry, and the aerosol indirect effect.