A concentration correction scheme for Lagrangian particle model and its application in street canyon air dispersion modelling

Pollutant dispersion in street canyons with various configurations was simulated by discharging a large number of particles into the computation domain after developing a time-dependent wind field. Trajectory of the released particles was predicted using a Lagrangian particle model developed in an earlier study. A concentration correction scheme, based on the concept of “visibility”, was adopted for the Lagrangian particle model to correct the calculated pollutant concentration field in street canyons. The corrected concentrations compared favourably with those from wind tunnel experiments and a linear relationship between the computed concentrations and wind tunnel data were found. The developed model was then applied to four simulations to test for the suitability of the correction scheme and to study pollutant distribution in street canyons with different configurations. For those cases with obstacles presence in the computation domain, the correction scheme gives more reasonable results compared with the one without using it. Different flow regimes are observed in the street canyons, which depend on building configurations. A counter-clockwise rotating vortex may appear in a two-building case with wind flow from left to right, causing lower pollutant concentration at the leeward side of upstream building and higher concentration at the windward side of downstream building. On the other hand, a stable clockwise rotating vortex is formed in the street canyon with multiple identical buildings, resulting in poor natural ventilation in the street canyon. Moreover, particles emitted in the downstream canyon formed by buildings with large height-to-width ratios will be transported to upstream canyons.     

Numerical Modeling of the Transport Diffusion and Deposition of Pollutants For Regions and Extended Scales

There is an emerging need to develop understanding and predictive capability for the transport, diffusion, and deposition of pollutants on regional and extended spatial scales. Some recent developments in the numerical simulation of pollutant transport and diffusion are reviewed and summarized herein, including case studies of model validation whenever’available. The efforts reported include: (a) the development and verification of a Lagrangian large-cloud diffusion code for intermediate to extended scales; (b) a hybrid Lagrangian-Eulerian transport-diffusion code for simulating pollutant distributions in transient stratified shear flow; (c) a meteorological submodel for determining a mass-consistent wind field on a regional scale suitable as input to a regional air pollution model; and (d) the development and initial verification of a multi-box regional air pollution model for the San Francisco Bay Area utilizing a mass-consistent wind field submodel.     

A Lagrangian approach for modelling turbulent transport and chemistry

A Lagrangian two-particle model for the relative diffusion and mixing of two reactive species is proposed. The model has been tested for consistency in simple geometrical configurations and has been compared to experimental data, Eulerian first- and second-order closure models as well as to other Lagrangian models. The model includes the covariance between the two species and therefore gives better predictions of both diffusion and chemistry than first-order closure models or the one-particle model proposed by Chock and Winkler (1994a,b, Journal of Geophysical Research, 99 D1, 1019–1031, 99 D1, 1033–1041). The model is a generalisation of the model presented by Komori et al. (1991, Journal of Fluid Mechanics 228, 629–659). The results of the calculations, although preliminary in character, indicate that the proposed algorithm is robust and efficient, and yields satisfactory results in turbulence with slow to moderate chemistry.     

Estimation of lagrangian time scales from laboratory measurements of lateral dispersion

Field experiments and wind tunnel simulation results for the behavior of lateral plume dispersion are compared to three semi-emperical expressions based on the Taylor's diffusion theory. These relations imply a direct connection between dispersion coefficients and the Lagrangian integral time scale. The implied Lagrangian integral time scale was found to vary by as much as a factor of 15, depending on the relation used. Agreement between the field data and lateral measurements supports using wind tunnel results to simulate atmospheric transport.     

Eulerian—Lagrangian relationships in monte carlo simulations of turbulent diffusion

A Monte Carlo technique for simulating turbulent diffusion is developed based on the Eulerian space-time velocity autocorrelation function. This method is an improvement over the usual Lagrangian approach since the Eulerian statistical properties of the turbulence are more easily measured. The analysis leads to some simple analytic relations between Eulerian and Lagrangian integral scales.     

An urban trajectory model for sulfur in Asian megacities: model concepts and preliminary application

This paper explores the adaptation of a regional Lagrangian approach for making long-term simulations of SO₂ and sulfate ambient concentrations at the resolution needed for health effects risk assessment in Asian megacities and their surroundings. A Lagrangian trajectory model (UR-BAT) is described which simulates transport and diffusion of sulfur within and near urban areas, originating from area and major point sources. The long-range contribution is accounted for by the ATMOS model, simulating all Asian sources. The model has been applied to Beijing and Bombay, by using preliminary emission figures, and the results have been compared with available monitoring data. The computed concentrations in different cities are in the correct range, indicating the potential use of the model in an integrated assessment framework such as RAINS-Asia.     

Application of a model system for the study of transport and diffusion in complex terrain to the TRACT experiment

The transport and diffusion processes of a tracer gas released near the ground in the Rhine valley region, in Central Europe, during the 1992 TRACT field experiment, are simulated by a computational model system for complex terrain. This system (RMS) is composed of the prognostic mesoscale model RAMS, the Lagrangian stochastic dispersion model SPRAY and the interface code MIRS, which links RAMS to SPRAY. Three flow simulations were performed, with different initialisations and the one showing the best agreement with the measured flow was selected for the simulation of the TRACT tracer experiment. Tracer concentrations measured by an array of samplers at ground level and by an airplane aloft, are used to evaluate the 3-D concentration field simulated by the model system. The analysis of the simulation results generated by RMS shows that our model system very well reproduces the general behaviour of the contaminant plume, the temporal and spatial distribution of the concentration and the location of the concentration maxima.     

A trajectory plume model for simulating air pollution transients

An air quality simulation model that is simple, yet capable of accurately estimating concentrations under unsteady meteorological conditions, has been developed. This trajectory plume model uses the Gaussian plume equation, but has an applicability that is approximately as wide as the Lagrangian puff model. The plume axis is represented by a series of straight-line plume segments. The performance of this model was evaluated by comparing it with other diffusion models. A comparison between simulation results using the present model and those using integrated puff and Eulerian diffusion models for three different metropolitan areas (one in Japan and two in the U.S.) has indicated that a simple trajectory plume model performs as well as the two other more complex models in simulating pollutant dispersion under complicated meteorological conditions such as those which occur during the transition period from a sea breeze to a land breeze.     

Effects of wind shear on pollution dispersion

Using an accurate numerical method for simulating the advection and diffusion of pollution puffs, it is demonstrated that point releases of pollution grow into a shape reflecting the vertical wind shear profile experienced by the puff within a time scale less than 4 h. For distances beyond several 10 s of kilometers from a release point, shear-related dispersion effects are probably the dominant mechanism affecting the area and magnitude of surface impacts. For assessing long-range pollutant dispersion, the common assumption that pollutants disperse as horizontally spherical “puffs” in the atmosphere is inherently inaccurate since shear-induced horizontal spreading of pollution is not a homogeneous “turbulent-like” diffusion process. A Lagrangian puff model can simulate an area impacted by a pollution puff only if larger shear-dependent horizontal puff dispersions are assumed. However, even if impacted areas are reasonably simulated, peak concentrations will be severely underestimated since atmospheric puffs influenced by even small amounts of wind shear are nonspherical. If horizontal dispersion coefficients in a Lagrangian puff model are adjusted so that peak concentrations are correctly simulated, then the calculated pollution impact area will be severely skewed. In shear environments, no choice of horizontal dispersion coefficients in a single-puff Lagrangian model will yield reasonable correlations with puffs that are skewed into nonspherical shapes by atmospheric wind shear.     

A simple and fast model to compute concentration moments in a convective boundary layer

Recently, a modified meandering plume model for concentration fluctuations in a convective boundary layer has been formulated (Atmos. Environ. 34 (2000) 3599). This model is based on a hybrid Eulerian–Lagrangian approach and it accounts for the skewed and inhomogeneous turbulence characteristics of the convective flow. Using the same hypotheses, but eliminating the need for Lagrangian particle model, we propose a generalised approach, that only requires the knowledge of mean concentration field. The proposed model is independent from the method used to obtain the mean concentration field. The evaluation of the concentration fluctuation field needs a computational time of only few seconds on a standard PC. Therefore, the model is suitable for practical applications.     

Pollutant dispersion in urban street canopies

The effects of building configurations on pollutant dispersion around street canopies were studied numerically. The dispersion of pollutants emitted from ground sources was simulated by continuously discharging large number of particles into the computation domain. The mean wind velocities at each time-step were firstly computed by solving the time-dependent incompressible Navier–Stokes equations, while the fluctuated velocities were determined using a statistical procedure. The trajectories of the discharged particles were obtained from a Lagrangian particle model. Three categories of numerical simulation were conducted to study the effect of different canopy geometries on the pollutant dispersion. The computed wind field data were consistent with the wind field characteristics described in the previous wind tunnel studies. A counter-clockwise vortex was found resulting in high pollutant concentration at the windward side of the downstream building of the street canopy and low pollutant concentration at the leeward side of the upstream building. The increase in height of the urban roughness buildings would facilitate the pollutant dispersion in urban street canopy under certain building configurations. Two or more vortices stacked vertically in a street canopy were found when height of the upstream and downstream buildings of a street canopy was increased, preventing pollutants from escaping out of the canopy.     

Mathematical Modeling of Photochemical Smog Using the PICK Method

A new method for solving the turbulent atmospheric diffusion equation has been developed based on Lagrangian mass points, or particles moving through an Eulerian grid. The method is one of a family of Particle-/n-Cell techniques but is a unique extension to incorporate the effects of turbulent diffusion based on K-theory; thus the acronym PICK.

In the three-dimensional computer-aided model, NEXUS (Numerical EXamination of Urban Smog), this method has been applied to simulation of carbon monoxide (CO) in Los Angeles. For CO the NEXUS simulation was within 20% of observed day-averaged concentrations at 12 stations and the hour-averages were also in good agreement. This model was extended to include the effects of photochemical smog in Los Angeles. The results of the photochemical simulation were also qualitatively correct due to rapid NO to NO₂ conversion in the simulation.     

Ozone removal by HVAC filters

Residential and commercial HVAC filters that have been loaded with particles during operation in the field can remove ozone from intake or recirculated air. However, knowledge of the relative importance of HVAC filters as a removal mechanism for ozone in residential and commercial buildings is incomplete. We measured the ozone removal efficiencies of clean (unused) fiberglass, clean synthetic filters, and field-loaded residential and commercial filters in a controlled laboratory setting. For most filters, the ozone removal efficiency declined rapidly but converged to a non-zero (steady-state) value. This steady-state ozone removal efficiency varied from 0% to 9% for clean filters. The mean steady-state ozone removal efficiencies for loaded residential and commercial filters were 10% and 41%, respectively. Repeated exposure of filters to ozone following a 24-h period of no exposure led to a regeneration of ozone removal efficiency. Based on a theoretical scaling analysis of mechanisms that are involved in the ozone removal process, we speculate that the steady-state ozone removal efficiency is limited by reactant diffusion out of particles, and that regeneration is due to internal diffusion of reactive species to sites available to ozone for reaction. Finally, by applying our results to a screening model for typical residential and commercial buildings, HVAC filters were estimated to contribute 22% and 95%, respectively, of total ozone removal in HVAC systems.     

Project MISTT: Mesoscale plume modeling of the dispersion,transformation and ground removal of SO2

A diagnostic β-mesoscale (25–250 km) plume model is developed using an existing steadystate model as a building block. This quasi-steady. Lagrangian model incorporates the diurnal variability of the planetary boundary layer (PBL) structure and of the parameters governing the chemical conversion and ground removal of SO₂. The vertical inhomogeneity of atmospheric dispersion is simulated by the use of an assumed height- and stability-dependent profile of the eddy diffusion coefficient. Two important dimensionless system parameters are identified which govern pollutant dilution and ground removal. Model inputs are derived from Project MISTT aircraft data and the ground monitoring data of the St. Louis Regional Air Pollution Study (RAPS). On 9 and 18 July 1976, the plume of the 2400 MW, coal-fired Labadie power plant near St. Louis was sampled from aircraft out to 300 km. Model application is considered specifically for the data of these two days and corresponding quantitative information about the dispersion, transformation and ground removal of SO₂ is extracted. The results show that peak daytime SO₂ conversion rates reached 1.8 and 3.0% h⁻¹ on 9 and 18 July, respectively; the corresponding peak dry deposition velocities were between 1.5 and 2.0cms⁻¹. The model is used to investigate the effects of source height, time of SO₂ release and eddy diffusion on the overall sulfur budget of the plume. The mid- and late-afternoon plumes appear to have the highest potential for long range transport and sulfate formation. Ground removal is strongly influenced by the profile of vertical eddy diffusion in the surface layer and much less by the profile shape and magnitude higher up.     

Diffusion of an instantaneous cluster of particles in homogeneous turbulence

In this work we study the diffusion of instantaneous puffs vs the diffusion of continuous plumes. The model which we use is a Lagrangian model for the motion of N particles suggested by Kaplan and Dinar (1988, J. compt. Phys. 79, 317–335). This model is based on the approach of Richardson to the relative diffusion which states that the instantaneous relative velocity of particles is a function of their instantaneous separation. Results show that the diffusion of a puff is slower than that of a continuous source. We find that the puff evolves more slowly than in the analytic model of Lee and Stone (1983, Atmospheric Environment17, 2477–2481), since in their model diffusion is influenced only by the initial conditions. The effect of the source size on the diffusion rate is studied as well.     

An efficient Lagrangian stochastic model of vertical dispersion in the convective boundary layer

We consider the one-dimensional case of vertical dispersion in the convective boundary layer (CBL) assuming that the turbulence field is stationary and horizontally homogeneous. The dispersion process is simulated by following Lagrangian trajectories of many independent tracer particles in the turbulent flow field, leading to a prediction of the mean concentration. The particle acceleration is determined using a stochastic differential equation, assuming that the joint evolution of the particle velocity and position is a Markov process. The equation consists of a deterministic term and a random term. While the formulation is standard, attention has been focused in recent years on various ways of calculating the deterministic term using the well-mixed condition incorporating the Fokker–Planck equation. Here we propose a simple parameterisation for the deterministic acceleration term by approximating it as a quadratic function of velocity. Such a function is shown to represent well the acceleration under moderate velocity skewness conditions observed in the CBL. The coefficients in the quadratic form are determined in terms of given turbulence statistics by directly integrating the Fokker–Planck equation. An advantage of this approach is that, unlike in existing Lagrangian stochastic models for the CBL, the use of the turbulence statistics up to the fourth order can be made without assuming any predefined form for the probability distribution function (PDF) of the velocity. The main strength of the model, however, lies in its simplicity and computational efficiency. The dispersion results obtained from the new model are compared with existing laboratory data as well as with those obtained from a more complex Lagrangian model in which the deterministic acceleration term is based on a bi-Gaussian velocity PDF. The comparison shows that the new model performs well.     

Sensitivity analysis of the atmospheric diffusion equation

A sensitivity analysis is performed on a representative mathematical model describing atmospheric diffusion. Basic characteristics of the spread of pollutants in the diffusion field are determined using the concentration moment method. A new variational approach yields a functional sensitivity relationship between the concentration moments and the spatially-varying parameters. It is demonstrated that this approach can be effectively used to compute general sensitivity measures for the spread of pollutants. The results of the analysis identify the key parameters influencing atmospheric diffusion. It is concluded that the analysis can provide useful insight into the effect of parameter variations in the atmospheric diffusion equation.     

An Urban Diffusion Simulation Model For Carbon Monoxide

A relatively simple Gaussian-type diffusion simulation model for calculating urban carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations as a function of local meteorology and the distribution of traffic is described. The model can be used in two ways: (1) in the synoptic mode, in which hourly concentrations at one or many receptor points are calculated from historical or forecast traffic and meteorological data; and (2) in the climatological mode, in which concentration frequency distributions are calculated on the basis of long-term sequences of input data. For model evaluation purposes, an extensive field study involving meteorological and air-quality measurements was conducted during November-December 1970 in San Jose, Calif., which has an automated network to provide traffic data throughout the central business district. Model refinements made on the basis of the data from this experimental program include the addition of a street-canyon submodel to compensate for the important aerodynamic effects of buildings on CO concentrations at streetside receptors. The magnitude of these effects was underscored by the concentrations measured on opposite sides of the street in San Jose, which frequently differed by a factor of two or more. Evaluation of the revised model has shown that calculated and observed concentration frequency distributions for street-canyon sites are in good agreement. Hour-average predictions are well correlated with observations (correlation coefficient of about 0.6 to 0.7), and about 80 percent of the calculated values are within 3 ppm of the observed hour-average concentrations, which ranged as high as 16 ppm.