Component-based development and sensitivity analyses of an air pollutant dry deposition model

The Urban Forest Effects-Deposition model (UFORE-D) was developed with a component-based modeling approach. Functions of the model were separated into components that are responsible for user interface, data input/output, and core model functions. Taking advantage of the component-based approach, three UFORE-Dapplicationswere developed: a base application toestimatedry deposition at anhourly time step, and two sensitivity analyses based onMonte Carlo simulations with a Latin hypercube sampling (LHS-MC) andaMorris one-at-a-time (MOAT) sensitivity test.With thebase application, drydeposition of CO,NO2,O3, PM10, and SO2 in the city of Baltimorewas estimated for 2005. The sensitivity applicationswere performed to examine UFORE-D model parameter sensitivity. In general, dry deposition velocity was sensitive to temperature and leaf area index (LAI). Temperature had a non-linear effect on all pollutants, while LAI was important to NO2 deposition with a nearly linear effect. PAR and wind speed had limited effects on dry deposition of all pollutants; dry depositionwas affected by PAR and wind speed only up to their threshold values. The component-based approach allows for seamless integration of new model elements, and provides model developers with a platform to easily interchange model components. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Software availability Name of software: UFORE-D Developer: Satoshi Hirabayashi, The Davey Tree Expert Company, 5 Moon Library, SUNY-ESF, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY 13210 Tel.: þ1 315 448 3201 Fax: þ1 315 448 3216 E-mail: [email protected] First available: 2011 (integrated with i-Tree Eco) Hardware required: PC running Windows XP or later Software required: None Program language: Visual Basic Cost: Will be freely downloadable from http://www.itreetools.org/ in 2011.