CMAQ v5.5+ CRACMM2 Air Quality Model Output for Summer 2023 over the U.S. and Canada

CMAQv5.5+ CRACMM2 gridded output for June-August 2023 across the U.S. and Canada includes a base simulation and five sensitivity simulations examining monoterpene emissions. The data, hosted by the UNC Dataverse and part of the CMAS Center AWS Open Data Program, contains hourly pollutant values from a model using inputs from Pye et al. (2026). Users are cautioned that the data had not been peer-reviewed at the time of release and should verify its suitability for their intended use.

Use Cases

• Analyze the impact of monoterpene emissions on atmospheric chemistry based on the five sensitivity simulations.
• Study the influence of wildfire emissions on air quality based on the simulation where all fire emissions were turned off.
• Model summer 2023 air pollutant concentrations across North America based on the base simulation's hourly gridded output.
• Investigate the contribution of volatile chemical product sources to reactive organic gases based on the sensitivity simulations adjusting monoterpene emissions.

Strengths

• Includes a base simulation and five distinct sensitivity simulations for comparative analysis.
• Covers a three-month summer period (June-August 2023) with hourly temporal resolution.
• Spatial coverage includes the contiguous United States and Canada.
• Model inputs and code are publicly documented and referenced, providing traceability.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The data had not been published in peer-reviewed literature at the time of release, requiring careful validation.
• Row count and file size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.

Provenance

Source

UNC Dataverse, part of the CMAS Center Amazon Web Services (AWS) Open Data Program.

Collection Method

Output from the CMAQ (Community Multiscale Air Quality) model version 5.5+ with the CRACMM2 chemical mechanism.

Time Range

June, July, and August 2023 (with May 2023 used as spin-up).

Freshness

Last updated 2026-06-29 03:10:21; freshness should be verified.

Geography

United States and Canada.