NUMAC: Description of the Nested Unified Model With Aerosols and Chemistry, and Evaluation With KORUS‐AQ Data

Abstract

AbstractWe describe and evaluate a system for regional modeling of atmospheric composition with the Met Office Unified Model (UM), suitable for climate, weather forecasting and air quality applications. In this system, named NUMAC (“Nested UM with Aerosols and Chemistry”), a global model provides boundary conditions for regional models nested within it, using the Met Office's Regional Nesting Suite for multi‐scale simulations. The regional models, which can run at convection‐permitting or cloud‐resolving scales, use the same code as the global model. The system includes double‐moment prognostic aerosol microphysics with interactive chemistry of sulfur species, ozone, NOx, and CO as in the UK Earth System Model. Double‐moment prognostic cloud microphysics is optional. To test NUMAC, we compare simulations to surface and aircraft measurements from NASA's Korea‐United States Air Quality campaign over South Korea. The performance of the regional model, which we run at 5 km resolution, is similar to the well‐evaluated global model when the regional and global models use the same emissions. Most species such as ozone, NOx, OH, or PM2.5 are simulated within a factor of 2 of observations most of the time, though they are biased low compared to monitors in polluted areas (observed surface dry PM2.5 averages 28 μgm−3 but we simulate 17 μgm−3). Meteorology and clouds are represented satisfactorily. With higher‐resolution emissions, many of the low model biases are reduced, but a tuning was required to keep NO concentrations realistic, indicating shortcomings in the chemistry scheme. We demonstrate the potential of NUMAC for studies of aerosol‐cloud interactions.