New air quality forecasting system predicts extreme pollution levels in Macedonia.
The scientists developed a system to predict air quality in Macedonia using a model called WRF-Chem. They ran different simulations to forecast both weather and pollution levels in Skopje. The model was sensitive to initial conditions, grid spacing, and emissions from vehicles. The 1-km model accurately predicted high pollution levels in Skopje, while coarser models underpredicted them. The best results were seen with a 5-km model, showing good correlation with actual pollution levels. The study suggests that using mobile emission data improves the accuracy of predicting extreme air pollution in cities. Overall, the WRF-Chem model performed well in forecasting both weather and pollution levels in Skopje.