ARS | Publication request: Incorporation of the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) for dust into a regional air quality modeling system

Submitted to: Meeting Proceedings
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: May 15, 2011
Publication Date: September 18, 2011
Citation: Chung, S., Lamb, B., Gao, J., Wagner, L.E., Vaughn, J. 2011. Incorporation of the Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) for dust into a regional air quality modeling system. In: Proceedings International Symposium on Erosion and Landscape Evolution (ISELE), 18-21 September 2011, Anchorage, Alaska. ISELE Paper No. 11035. D.C. Flanagan, J.C. Ascough II, and J.L Nieber (eds.). St. Joseph, MI ASABE.

Technical Abstract: Wind erosion of soil is a major concern of the agricultural community as it removes the most fertile part of the soil and thus degrades soil productivity. Furthermore, suspension of eroded soil particles results in dust emissions into the atmosphere, contributing to poor air quality, reduced visibility, and perturbations to regional radiation budgets. An important aspect of understanding the impact of agricultural activities is the ability to model windblown dust emissions within the framework of a regional air quality system that considers atomospheric constituents from a variety of sources. The Wind Erosion Prediction System (WEPS) is a new tool for treating erosion from agricultural fields. As a process-based model, WEPS represents a significant improvement in comparison to existing empirical windblown dust modeling algorithms. WEPS includes several submodels which account for the effects of crop growth, crop management practices, and soil conditions and surface cover. WEPS was originally intended for soil conservation applications and designed to simulate conditions of a single field over multiple years. Applying WEPS to a regional air quality modeling framework requires that the model be applied to a fixed Eulerian grid. In this work, all submodels in WEPS have been modified so that it can be incorporated into a regional air quality forecasting system. The modified WEPS model is incorporated into the WRF/CMAQ modeling framework to study the impact of windblows dust on air quality in the Columbia Plateau region of the Pacific Northwest.