An intercomparison of four wet deposition schemes used in dust transport modeling

The characteristics of four wet deposition schemes widely used in dust modeling studies are examined within the framework of a regional scale dust model. Since these schemes are based on different formulations, the scavenging coefficients of them deviate by a factor of 103 depending on precipitation rate and particle size. The four schemes coupled with the dust model are applied to simulate a 2002 Asian dust event. The corresponding wet deposition patterns and scavenging efficiencies are compared. It is found that apart from the scheme derived from scavenging coefficient measurements, the other three schemes give similar wet deposition patterns although their scavenging efficiencies are different depending on the particle-size range. The results suggest that the performances of these schemes are affected by the particle size distribution of the dust emission, together with the model's performance of precipitation prediction.