P57 Evaluating WRF simulations of the planetary boundary layer with lidar measurements from the Baltimore – Washington, DC DISCOVER-AQ field campaign

Hegarty, Jennifer, John Henderson, AER, Jasper Lewis, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Erica McGrath-Spangler, Universities Space Research Association, Amy Jo Scarino, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Langley Research Center (LRC), Rebecca Adams-Selin, AER, Richard Ferrare, NASA/LRC, Phillip DeCola, Sigma Space Corporation, Micheal Hicks, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration/National Weather Service, Ellsworth Welton, NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

The accurate representation of processes in the planetary boundary layer (PBL) in meteorological models is of prime importance for weather forecasting, air quality simulations, and estimating emissions of greenhouse gases and other constituents through inverse algorithms. In these models, it governs the depth to which surface fluxes of heat, moisture, and chemical species are vertically mixed and influences the efficiency by which they are transported downwind. In this work, we evaluate high resolution (~1 km) WRF simulations of the PBL during the Baltimore - Washington, DC DISCOVER-AQ field campaign that took place in July of 2011 using MPLNET micro-pulse lidar (MPL), mini-MPL, airborne high spectral resolution lidar (HSRL), and CALIPSO satellite measurements along with complimentary surface and aircraft observations. We will discuss how well WRF simulates the spatiotemporal variability of the PBL height in the urban area and the development of fine-scale meteorological features, such as the Chesapeake Bay breeze that affects local weather and air quality. Additionally, we will present an analysis of how the choice of physical parameterizations, including the PBL scheme, urban canopy modeling options, and the sea surface temperature inputs, influence the WRF simulations.