Overview
This dataset contains numerical simulation outputs from the AQUE (Air Quality in Urban Environment: A Focused Study on Pollution Behavior in Warsaw's Canopy Layer) project, conducted as part of transnational access (TNA) program of ATMO-ACCESS pilot funded by European Commission. The model simulations were performed for two intensive observational campaigns conducted in July and October 2024 of the AQUE TNA. For modelling we were using the LES-PALM and Code_Saturne models. The central reference point for the simulations is the Warsaw Observatory Station at the Institute of Geophysics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw (52°12'39.6" N, 20°58'57.4" E, 132 m a.s.l.).
This data slot contains LES-PALM simulations only. The Code_Saturn simulations are published in separate data slot.
PALM simulations data
The PArallelized LES Model (PALM) was used for high-resolution numerical large eddy simulations (LES) to analyze turbulence within the planetary boundary layer (PBL). Originally developed by Raasch and Schröter (2003) and later expanded by Maronga et al. (2015, 2020), PALM is optimized for massively parallel computing. Version 6.0, developed by the Institute of Meteorology and Climatology at Leibniz University Hannover, was employed in this study. The model includes the PALM core and PALM-4U (for urban applications), integrated as part of the MOSAIK project for climate-sensitive urban planning. PALM resolves large-scale turbulence explicitly while parameterizing small-scale eddies using a 1.5-order closure scheme (Deardorff). It employs a Cartesian grid, the Boussinesq approximation, and a third-order Runge-Kutta time-stepping scheme. Advection is handled with a fifth-order Wicker and Skamarock scheme, and surface-atmosphere interactions follow the Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST). Prognostic variables include 3D wind components (u, v, w), potential temperature (θ), water vapor mixing ratio (qv), a passive scalar (s), and subgrid-scale turbulent kinetic energy (SGS-TKE) (Scherer et al., 2019).
The Version 6.0 LES-PALM model was setup and run at the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling University of Warsaw (ICM UW).
The published here dataset consists of outputs from high-resolution numerical simulations conducted using the PALM model. The simulation covers a 6.0 km × 6.0 km horizontal domain and extends up to 4.0 km in the vertical. The model setup was aligned with the geographic coordinates of the rooftop platform of the Warsaw Observatory Station at the Institute of Geophysics, Faculty of Physics, University of Warsaw (52°12'39.6" N, 20°58'57.4" E, 132 m a.s.l.). The dataset provides high-resolution meteorological variables, including wind fields, temperature, turbulence characteristics, and concentrations of NO₂, NO, O₃, and PM₁₀, enabling a comprehensive analysis of air quality dynamics within Warsaw’s urban canopy layer.
The static input file (Warsaw_6km_static.nc) contains the static information about the topography, as well as all the data needed to initialize the land and urban surfaces in the model. This includes building heights, street types, vegetation types, land use and land cover, and more within the simulated domain and following the degree spacing. The surface initialization process follows a multi-step approach, depending on the level of detail available for each variable specified in the static file.
The PALM data slot includes the following files:
palm_OUTPUT_pr_YYYYMMDD.nc
palm_OUTPUT_ts_YYYYMMDD.nc
palm_OUTPUT_xy_YYYYMMDD.nc
palm_OUTPUT_masked_YYYYMMDD.nc
Warsaw_6km_static.nc
Radiosounding at Legionowo, Poland (WMO 12374)
Radiosonde data from the Legionowo station (WMO 12374, 52°24'00.0" N, 20°57'36.0" E, 96 m a.s.l.) were used as input files for the PALM model simulations.
Soundings were conducted at 00:00 and 12:00 UTC, providing atmospheric profiles of atmospheric pressure (PRES, hPa), geometric height (HGHT, m), air temperature (TEMP, °C), dew point temperature (DWPT, °C), relative humidity (RELH, %), mixing ratio (MIXR, g/kg), wind direction (DRCT, degrees), wind speed (SKNT, knots), potential temperature (THTA, K), potential equivalent temperature (THTE, K), and potential virtual temperature (THTV, K).
These profiles offer a detailed information on the thermodynamic structure and meteorological conditions throughout the atmospheric column on the campaign days.
NOTE: These data are also accessible (and can be visualized) via the Atmospheric Soundings Portal at the University of Wyoming (https://weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html, last access February 11, 2025).
The Radiosounding data includes the following files:
Soundings_YYYY-MM-DD-hh.txt
In-Situ measurements from CIEP in Warsaw, Poland
Air quality data from monitoring stations operated by the Chief Inspectorate for Environmental Protection (CIEP) in Warsaw, Poland, were used to establish the initial chemical conditions for the PALM simulations. For this purpose, historical monthly average data from the years 2021, 2022 and 2023, corresponding to the months of the AQUE TNA campaigns, were used.
The CIEP dataset includes surface-level concentrations of key air pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O₃), particulate matter (PM₁₀), and other air pollutants, measured at CIEP air quality monitoring stations.
Measurements collected from multiple urban background locations, excluding the communication/traffic station, provided information in hourly resolution for different areas of the city.
The data are also accessible through the Measurement Data Archives of the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection (CIEP) (https://powietrze.gios.gov.pl/pjp/archives, last access February 11, 2025).
The CIEP data includes the following files:
YYYY_NO.xlsx
YYYY_NO2.xlsx
YYYY_O3.xlsx
YYYY_PM10.xlsx
File Information
The LES-PALM output data and static file are stored in netCDF format (.nc), with variables provided for each day at 30-minute intervals. Data in this format can be accessed with open software: Python, R, Julia, Panoply, GrADS, Ferret, NCO, and CDO.
The radiosounding data is stored as ASCII files (.txt). The CIEP data is stored in Excel format (.xlx). Reading data in those formats they require access to Microsoft Excel software, which is a proprietary software. Data can be also accessed with open software such us Python.
Acknowledgments
The LES-PALM model simulations, quality assurance and check was done within the National Science Centre, Poland, Weave-UNISONO programe (AEROPAN, G.A. no. 2021/03/Y/ST10/00206).
The PALM model simulations were carried out with the support of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Mathematical and Computational Modelling University of Warsaw (ICM UW) under computational allocation no. g96-1894 within the Large Eddy SimulationS in Urban environment (LESSU; Project ID: 3673).
The Warsaw Observatory Station acknowledges long-term support of EARLINET/ACTRIS and funding of EC Horizon 2020 grants: no. 739530 (ACTRIS-PPP), no. 871115 (ACTRIS-IMP), and no. 101008004 (ATMO-ACCESS), the latter especially for the provision of the AQUE TNA finding.
We thank the Department of Atmospheric Science at the University of Wyoming for access to radiosonde data, available at weather.uwyo.edu/upperair/sounding.html (last access: 11 February 2025).
We also acknowledge the Chief Inspectorate of Environmental Protection (CIEP/GIOS) for providing air quality data through its Measurement Data Archives (powietrze.gios.gov.pl, last access: 11 February 2025)
We express our gratitude to the PALM Group at the Institute of Meteorology and Climatology (IMUK), Leibniz Universität Hannover, Germany, for developing and maintaining the PALM model (palm.muk.uni-hannover.de/trac, last access: 11 February 2025).
ATTENTION:
We offer a free access to this dataset. The user is however encouraged to share the information on the data use with the Remote Sensing Laboratory by sending an e-mail to rslab@fuw.edu.pl.
In the case this dataset is used for a scientific communication (publication, conference contribution, thesis) we would like to kindly ask for considering to acknowledge data provision by adding the following statement in Acknowledgments: "We acknowledge the data originators R. G. Carneiro and I.S. Stachlewska for the quality-assurance, evaluation, and provision of data sets of the Remote Sensing Laboratory at the Faculty of Physics of the University of Warsaw, Poland."
