Evaluation of an urban canopy parameterization in a mesoscale model using VTMX and URBAN 2000 data

A modified urban canopy parameterization (UCP) is developed and evaluated in a three-dimensional mesoscale model to assess the urban impact on surface and lower-atmospheric properties. This parameterization accounts for the effects of building drag, turbulent production, radiation balance, anthropogenic heating, and building rooftop heating/cooling. U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) land-use data are also utilized to derive urban infrastructure and urban surface properties needed for driving the UCP. An intensive observational period with clear sky, strong ambient wind, and drainage flow, and the absence of a land-lake breeze over the Salt Lake Valley, occurring on 25-26 October 2000, is selected for this study. A series of sensitivity experiments are performed to gain understanding of the urban impact in the mesoscale model. Results indicate that within the selected urban environment, urban surface characteristics and anthropogenic heating play little role in the formation of the modeled nocturnal urban boundary layer. The rooftop effect appears to be the main contributor to this urban boundary layer. Sensitivity experiments also show that for this weak urban heat island case, the model horizontal grid resolution is important in simulating the elevated inversion layer. The root-mean-square errors of the predicted wind and temperature with respect to surface station measurements exhibit substantially larger discrepancies at the urban locations than their rural counterparts. However, the close agreement of modeled tracer concentration with observations fairly justifies the modeled urban impact on the wind-direction shift and wind-drag effects.