What Improvements do Models Need to be More Accurate?
Interactions with other parts of the Earth system

Atmospheric chemistry models are very important for understanding and predicting the amounts of pollutants in the atmosphere. Several pollutants have direct sources from the surface, but many pollutants, like ozone, form in the atmosphere as a result of chemical reactions.

Atmospheric chemistry models track the sources of both pollutants and the chemical precursors to pollutants. When these models are coupled to an atmospheric circulation model, we can study how pollutants are transported around the world, where they originally come from, and where they ultimately end up.

For example, sulfur dioxide is emitted by industrial plants. These molecules can be carried by the wind to places far from their original source, and can form sulfuric acid when they encounter water. Sulfuric acid can fall to the surface as acid rain.

Next page   -> improvements, continued

Links and resources