A Model Performance Evaluation Software: Description and Application to Regional Haze Modeling

Particulate matter (PM) models are used for demonstration of progress in visibility under the Regional Haze Rule and the formulation of State Implementation Plans (SIPs) for the PM2.5 National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). For models to be used convincingly in the regulatory arena, they must first be shown to produce satisfactory performance . The evaluation of models is a data-intensive activity, requiring PM and precursor data from many networks. To facilitate data retrieval and formatting for model evaluation activities, a Model Performance Evaluation (MPE) software has been developed that includes a database of relevant air quality data as well as software for the calculation of a large array of model performance statistics. The MPE software retrieves the relevant air quality data and model simulation outputs and calculates performance metrics selected by the user. We first describe the MPE software package. Next, we present an application for regional haze modeling.