Validating the Rio-ifdm-street Canyon Coupling over Antwerp, Belgium

Further integration of different spatial scales in concentration modeling is important for assessing the European limit values for NO2. The local NO2-concentrations are influenced by the regional background, the local emissions and the street canyon effects. Therefore, it is important to combine all these contributions in the model chain that one wants to use for such an assessment. In this paper, we present the results of a coupled model chain, using an intelligent measurement interpolation tool, a bi-gaussian plume model and a street canyon model to simulate the concentrations over the city of Antwerp, Belgium. The results of this model campaign are validated against weekly averaged NO2 measurements at 49 locations in the city of Antwerp, during both a winter and a summer week. It is shown that the model performed well, with an R2 between 0.73 and 0.90, RMSE around 5 μg/m3 and small biases. Next to this validation, the performance of different model parts is shown, in order to provide information on the importance of the different components.