El Paso/Ciudad Juarez Air Quality Program

HOTMAC/RAPTAD simulation of nighttime plume dispersal in the Paso del Norte region. Source located near the Rio Grande river north of the Sierra Juarez and south of the Franklin Mtns

The El Paso/Ciudad Juarez Project has the goal of understanding the circulation patterns in the Paso del Norte Region in the context of studying ozone production and transport. The LANL team consists of experimentalists and modelers from both D-4 and EES-8 (Atmospheric Sciences and Climate Group). The EES-8 lidar team has measured 3-d aerosol distributions in the region and are currently working on a novel method for obtaining high resolution 3-D wind fields.

Meteorological modelers from both groups are using the mesoscale models HOTMAC and RAMS to simulate the circulation patterns that develop in the complex terrain surrounding the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez communities. An intensive field campaign was conducted in the summer of 1996 in conjunction with the US Environmental Protection Agency Region VI, Sonoma Technology, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission and others.

Reports, Talks, & Movies:

Meteorological simulations of boundary layer structure during the 1996 Paso del Norte Ozone Study, Brown, Muller, Wang, and Costigan, accepted Sci. of Total Env., LA-UR-00-1262 (2001).
Download x.x Mb pdf

The effect of urban canopy parameterizations on mesoscale meteorological model simulations in the Paso del Norte area, Brown and Williams, 90th Annual AWMA Meeting, Toronto, LA-UR-97-287 (1997)
Download 0.7 Mb pdf

Check out the Summary of Measurements Obtained During the 1996 Paso del Norte Ozone Study at the USEPA Region VI web site.

Meteorological simulations of ozone episode case days during the 1996 Paso del Norte Ozone Study, Brown, Costigan, Muller, and Wang, 91st Annual AWMA Meeting, St. Louis, MO, LA-UR-99-788 (1999)
Download 1.3 Mb pdf

See a gif movie of a HOTMAC/RAPTAD simulated plume release in the El Paso/Ciudad Juarez Region. The movie shows neutrally-buoyant particles being transported by the mean and turbulent wind fields for 3 days of a 30 day simulation (Sept. 10-12, 1994).