An Evaluation of the UAM-V Predicted Concentrations of Carbon Monoxide and Reactive Nitrogen Compounds over the Eastern United States during Summer 1995

Abstract

While there is a clear need to evaluate a photochemical model’s ability in predicting not only the concentrations of O₃ but also precursors and other trace species, many previous studies have focused only on the assessment of O₃ During the 1995 summer season, in addition to the routine monitoring of criteria pollutants, several research-oriented monitoring campaigns were conducted over the eastern United States, providing an extensive database of O₃, reactive nitrogen compounds, CO, and speciated hydrocarbon data. In this study, we examine the ability of a photochemical modeling system, RAMS/UAM-V, to reproduce the measured concentrations of CO, NO₂, and NO_y over the region during the summer of 1995. The results demonstrate that there is agreement between modeled and measured seasonal average concentrations of NO₂, both at the routine and research monitors. The same is true for NO_y, but to a lesser degree. However, the model is found to significantly underpredict CO for the routine monitors in comparison to the research monitors.