On the Understanding of the Coastal-Urban Nexus of Weather, Air Quality and Energy
Urban environments exhibit complex interactions between atmospheric processes, building energy consumption, and air quality, particularly during periods of seasonal extremes such as summer ozone peaks and winter heating. Accurate representation of these interactions in urban modeling is crucial for understanding and addressing air pollution and energy management challenges in cities. This research presents a comprehensive study that advances urban atmosphere simulations by integrating building energy dynamics, air quality, and robust multi-source observational evaluation. Leveraging the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, coupled with a multilayer building environment parameterization (BEP) and a building energy model (BEM), with an improved boundary layer coupling scheme. This study examines how urban physical processes influence meteorology during both summer and winter seasons, and summertime air quality, using New York City (NYC) as a primary case study. The model performance is rigorously evaluated against a variety of observational datasets, including surface meteorological and air quality measurements, building energy consumption data, and remotely sensed nitrogen dioxide precursor data retrieved from aircraft field campaigns. In winter, the analysis evaluates the environmental implications of a major shift from fossil fuel-based heating systems to electrification, specifically the adoption of air source heat pumps, on the urban heat island effect and energy demand. In summer, the study focuses on the role of urbanization on surface temperature, wind dynamics, seabreeze flows, energy use and ozone production and distributions, and explores the benefits and limitations of urban canopy representation in chemical transport models for forecasting air quality events. The results highlight the importance of accurately representing urban physical processes in weather and air quality models for understanding and addressing air pollution and energy challenges in cities. This multiscale modeling approach demonstrates the importance of considering the complex interactions between atmospheric processes, building energy use, and air quality in urban environments, offering insight for researchers, policymakers, and urban planners seeking to create more sustainable and resilient cities.
Coastal, Urban, Weather, Energy, Air Quality, Atmospheric Sciences, Mechanical Engineering, Meteorology
City University of New York - City College
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