Inaugural lecture by professor Alexander Baklanov

PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL WEATHER:

A NEW CONCEPT AND METHODOLOGY OF INTEGRATED MODELLING

Alexander Baklanov
alb@dmi.dk 

Professor Alexander Baklanov,CEEH
deputy director

During the last decade a new field of atmospheric modelling - the chemical weather forecasting (CWF) - is quickly developing and growing. However, in most of the current studies and publications this field is realised in a simplified concept of the off-line running chemical transport models with operational numerical weather prediction (NWP) data as a driver. A new concept and methodology considering the chemical weather as two-way interacting nonlinear meteorological and chemical/aerosol dynamics processes of the atmosphere is suggested and discussed. The on-line integration of mesometeorological models and atmospheric aerosol and chemical transport models gives a possibility to utilize all meteorological 3D fields in the chemical transport model at each time step and to consider nonlinear feedbacks of air pollution (e.g. atmospheric aerosols) on meteorological processes / climate forcing and then on the chemical composition. This very promising way for future atmospheric simulation systems (as a part of and a step to Earth System Modelling) will lead to a new generation of models for meteorological, environmental and chemical weather forecasting. The methodology how to realise the suggested integrated CWF concept is demonstrated on example of the European Enviro-HIRLAM integrated modelling system. Importance of atmospheric boundary layer and different feedback mechanisms for meteorological and atmospheric chemistry processes and their strong nonlinearities are also discussed in the lecture.

About the speaker

Professor Alexander Baklanov works at the Danish Meteorological Institute, he is a deputy director of the Danish Strategic Research Centre for Energy, Environment and Health (CEEH) and Honorary Professor at the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen. He has about 30 years of experience in developing atmospheric dynamics and air quality models at different scales: from micro- to meso- and regional scales, modelling of urban climate and boundary layer meteorology, atmospheric aerosol dynamics and air pollution over complex terrain and urban conditions, integrated online coupled modelling of two-way interacting meteorological and atmospheric chemical transport processes. Coordinator of several EU FP projects, chairman of the COST Action ES1004: European framework for online integrated air quality and meteorology modelling (EuMetChem, see: http://eumetchem.info) and editor-in-chief of Urban Climate journal. Published about 350 scientific publications, including 12 books and more than 150 peer-reviewed papers. His latest studies are focusing on interaction of physical and chemical processes in the atmospheric boundary layer and urban environment, especially interactions among megacities, air quality and climate.

More details on his work can be found at: http://baklanov.dk