Abstract: The Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro is a densely urbanized area, characterized by a high concentration of mobile and fixed sources of pollution, as well as vast expanses impermeabilized by concrete and asphalt, contributing to local air quality issues. In this context, validating a meteorological model becomes crucial, as the data obtained can feed into chemical transport models, relating meteorological variables to emissions and atmospheric chemistry. This allows for predicting and creating scenarios for controlling air pollution through legislation and public policies. Based on this premise, the present study aims to validate the meteorological data generated by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to understand local meteorology. For this purpose, two nested domains were developed, one with a horizontal resolution of 9km and another more refined one with a resolution of 3km, both containing 40 vertical layers. The simulation was conducted from August 28th to September 3rd, 2018, characterized by low precipitation and fewer extreme weather events. The validation of the results was performed using indices of agreement, mean absolute error, square root of the mean squared error, and mean bias for variables such as temperature, specific humidity, wind speed, and direction. For this, simulated values were compared with observed data from 36 stations distributed across the study domain. The results obtained showed good agreement between simulated and observed data for temperature and specific humidity, but less agreement for wind speed and direction. This discrepancy may be related to the location of meteorological stations. However, the model still yielded satisfactory results in representing local meteorology.

 Keywords: WRF, Weather Research and Forecasting, Meteorological Validation, Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro, Air Quality.