Variation of Ozone and PBL from the Lidar Observations and WRF-Chem Model in NYC Area During the 2018 Summer LISTOS Campaign

Abstract

High ozone (O3) episodes frequently occur in New York metropolitan and the downwind coastal area in summer. In this study, lidar/ceilometer are combined with WRF/Chem model to investigate an O3 event on Aug. 27~30 2018. We examine the spatial-temporal variabilities of O3 and planetary-boundary-layer height (PBLH) and assess the model performance on simulating surface O3 during this episode. By comparing with the lidar observations, the WRF/Chem is able to capture high O3 distribution in the PBL at noon and indicates consistent diurnal evolution for the ground O3. Nevertheless, in the early morning and night, the model overestimates the ground O3 and underestimates the PBLH.