Simulation of aerosol fields over South Asia using CHIMERE – part-II: performance evaluation

Abstract

In this paper, we evaluate the performance of the chemical transport model 'CHIMERE' over large Indian region (4–37.5°N; 67–88.5°E) for multiple years (2006, 2007 and 2008) by comparing the model simulations with concurrent aerosol measurements from different locations. Model simulated near-surface black carbon mass concentrations agreed satisfactorily with measurements at various locations (oceanic, inland and island sites), in general, except during monsoon months, when the model under-predicted the measurements. Similar results were obtained when model simulated column integrated PM₁₀ mass concentrations were correlated with MODIS-derived aerosol optical depth (AOD), using AOD as a proxy for aerosol loading. The under-performance of the model during monsoon arises, at least partly, due to the model-simulated rainfall being higher than the actual rainfall over the Indian domain, during the monsoon season. Notwithstanding these, the general performance of the CHIMERE model to simulate aerosol loading over Indian domain during dry months is, in general, found to be satisfactory .