Abstract
<jats:p>Urban areas modify the exchanges of energy, moisture, and momentum between the surface and the atmosphere through the combined effects of materials, urban morphology, and anthropogenic emissions. These modifications influence both local meteorological conditions and air quality, generating a complex system of interactions. While urban climate affects the transport, dispersion, and accumulation of atmospheric pollutants, air pollution can also alter radiative processes and influence local meteorology, leading to a coupled atmosphere–chemistry system.This study investigates the interactions between urban climate and air quality over the metropolitan areas of Madrid and Murcia (Spain) using the WRF-Chem model. A set of high-resolution simulations was performed employing a one-way nested configuration, with an outer domain covering the Iberian Peninsula and two inner domains centered on the target cities. Pollutant emissions were represented using a high-resolution downscaled inventory that resolves major emission sources, including road networks, industrial areas, airports, and agricultural land uses. Four main experiment families were considered: rural and urban configurations, each with and without atmospheric chemistry. Additional sensitivity experiments were conducted to assess the impact of emission strength and urban representation.The experimental framework allows assessment of both the influence of urban processes on pollutant distributions and the impact of atmospheric composition on urban meteorology. Particular attention is paid to the role of urban canopy models in shaping near-surface thermal patterns and local circulations, as well as to the extent to which urban-induced meteorological modifications affect air-quality conditions across the metropolitan area.The results highlight the interactions between urban climate and atmospheric chemistry and emphasize the importance of realistically representing urban morphology and emissions in coupled modeling systems. Acknowledgments: The authors acknowledge the ARUBA project (PID2023-149080OB-I00/MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación/Agencia Estatal de Investigación, Spain & FEDER, EU), and the INSIEME project (FSRM/10.13039/100007801). ERL thanks her predoctoral contract FPU (FPU21/02464) to the Ministerio de Universidades of Spain.</jats:p>