WRF and WRF-Chem v3.5.1 simulations of meteorology and black carbon concentrations in the Kathmandu Valley

A study evaluating the Weather Research and Forecast (WRF) model for meteorological simulations in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, found that while the model effectively captures key parameters like wind speed, boundary layer height, and precipitation, it struggles with subgrid-scale processes in complex terrain. When extended to include chemistry and aerosols (WRF-Chem), the model significantly underestimated black carbon concentrations, even when using improved emission data for the valley. The findings highlight the challenges of accurately modeling air pollution in mountainous regions and underscore the need for further refinements in both models and emission databases before they can reliably assess mitigation scenarios.

Mues, A., Lauer, A., Lupascu, A., Rupakheti, M., Kuik, F., & Lawrence, M. G. (2018). WRF and WRF-Chem v3.5.1 simulations of meteorology and black carbon concentrations in the Kathmandu Valley. Geoscientific Model Development, 11(6), 2067–2091. https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2067-2018