Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII): Advancing the State of the Science in Regional Photochemical Modeling and Its Applications

Abstract

In early 1980's, American Meteorological Society (AMS) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held two workshops to discuss and recommend methods for evaluating plume dispersion models (Fox, 1981 and 1984). AMS and EPA also held another workshop in 1984 to discuss evaluation issues relating to regional-scale air quality models, but the workshop participants did not recommend any specific methods for the model performance evaluation (Demerjian, 1985). Hence, the statistical metrics identified by the first AMS and EPA workshop continue to be used for evaluating Gaussian dispersion models as well as numerical regional-scale air quality models, not only in the United States but also in other countries. Although the focus in 1970¿s and 1980¿s was primarily on urban air pollution models, it is well-known that pollution problems such as acid rain, ozone, and fine particulate matter are regional in scope, requiring regional-scale multi-pollutant models.