WRF-CHEM and the
Africa SLCP Project
October, 2022 - November, 2023: Towards a Dispersion Model for Early Warning and Estimation of Short-Lived Climate Pollutants for Decision Making on Black Carbon and Particulate Matter in Kenya
Project Overview
The overall objective of the KMS SLCPs project is to enhance regional monitoring systems for the short lived climate pollutants in Kenya and develop a dispersion model for early warning monitoring capacity. To achieve this objective, The KMS have started to develop a WRF- CHEM
model to produce forecasts onPM2.5 and PM10 while building technical capacity for air quality services in Nakuru and Nairobi counties.
The proposed product is a daily forecast using WRF-CHEM for PM2.5 and PM10 pollutants in Nakuru and Nairobi counties. The project is financed by ClimateWorks Foundation.
Expected Outcomes
Is to develop a Real-Time Air Quality Forecast early warning system that provides a powerful tool to forecast air quality and advise the public with proper preventive actions.
Project targets women, children, policy makers and other vulnerable groups in several counties in Kenya.
Africa SLCP
Aims to contribute to the reduction of short-lived climate pollutants in Africa, ultimately supporting the achievement of the goals outlined in the Paris Agreement. This project seeks to establish Africa’s leadership in actionable science by bringing together key stakeholders in Africa for climate modeling and short-lived climate pollutants research.
https://africaslcproject.org/about/
Collaboration
The Africa SLCP project team collaborates with Kenya Meteorological Society (amongst other
civil society organizations), government agencies and private consultants across Africa to
execute the project objectives. Ultimately, the project aims to increase awareness, especially
amongst the vulnerable grass-root communities, and thus prompt social and behavioral change
towards eco-friendly and sustainable development.
Achievements
Achievement of the project objectives will inform climate policies and ultimately contribute
towards improvement of Nationally Determined Contributions of African countries, pledged
under the Paris Agreement. Further, the project addresses aspects of five sustainable
development goals: the third (good health and well-being); seventh (clean energy); eleventh
(sustainable cities and communities); twelfth (responsible consumption and production); and
thirteenth (climate action).
Development WRF-Chem and running of early warning and forecasting system
The Weather Research and Forecasting Chemistry (WRF-Chem) model is one of the atmospheric models used in predicting air pollution. The WRF-Chem is a complex Eulerian meteorological model integrated on-line with atmospheric chemistry that allows simulating emission, transport, dispersion, transformation and sedimentation of pollutants. The model can work with several chemical mechanisms and different aerosol modules, and is widely used in atmospheric transport models including the Model for Simulating Aerosol Interactions and Chemistry (MOSAIC), Modal Aerosol Dynamic model for Europe (MADE), and the bulk aerosol module from GOCART, among others. The developed tool will seek to forecast air quality and to advise the
public with proper preventive actions. Building on work of the dispersal model from initial project, we will transform the WRF- Chem (Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry) model into an early warning and forecasting system for SLCPs using in situ data sets and satellite information
Contact Us
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