A long-range dispersion model evaluation study with Chernobyl data

The Chernobyl accident outlined the need for improving the capability of the real-time estimate of long-range atmospheric dispersion and provided an opportunity to test numerical models against the radiological data collected over Europe. The APOLLO model, which became recently operational in the Accidental Release Impact Evaluation System (ARIES) at ENEA-DISP, has been tested based on meteorological and radiological data made available during and after the joint IAEA/CEC/WMO Atmospheric Transport Model Evaluation Study (ATMES). In the present paper a model evaluation and a sensitivity test with respect to the mixing depth and horizontal diffusion parameterizations are presented. The quantities involved in the validation are Cs-137 air concentrations paired in space and time, time-integrated concentrations and time of arrival of the cloud at each locality. The results show that the treatment of space and time variability of the mixing depth improves the model estimates, and that a linear trend in time of the horizontal dispersion coefficient gives better results than a square-root trend in terms of scattering between observed and computed values.     

Velocity oscillations and plume dispersion in a residential neighborhood during wintertime nights

Measurements of velocity and tracer plume concentrations during stable atmospheric conditions were obtained in the Boise River Valley as part of the EPA Integrated Air Cancer Project during December, 1986. Wind speed, temperature, and wind direction were measured at two levels on a 30 m tower. Spectral and autocorrelation analyses of the velocity component data clearly indicate the occurrence of wave-like oscillations in the flow and the almost complete lack of turbulent energy. The predominate wave-like motion had an oscillation period of about 1000 s. Halogenated atmospheric tracers were released from as many as four houses during the night-time drainage conditions. Hourly averaged horizontal dispersion coefficients were very large compared to the Pasquill-Gifford curves and the urban McElroy-Pooler dispersion curves. The time-averaged dispersion coefficients formed an upper bound on very short-term dispersion coefficients obtained from mobile traverses of the tracer plume with a continuous SF₆ analyzer. These results agree with the concept of a narrow instantaneous plume with a broad meander driven by the observed 1000 s oscillation. Vertical dispersion rates were slightly smaller than the Pasquill-Gifford class F curve. Results from a single tracer release from a side canyon near the neighborhood showed that drainage flow from the tributary impacted the main residential sampling site at Elm Grove Park and represented a significant fraction of the upstream air flow at Elm Grove Park. For sources with equal emission rates, a source in the tributary adds about 10% to the mean of the concentration caused by a neighborhood source.     

Building wake dispersion at an Arctic industrial site: Field tracer observations and plume model evaluations

Ten multi-hour atmospheric dispersion SF₆ tracer experiments were conducted during October and November of 1987 near a large oil gathering facility in the Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, oilfield reservation. The purpose of this study was to investigate dispersion under arctic conditions and in situations where building-generated airflow disturbances dominate downwind distributions of ground level pollutant concentrations. This was accomplished with a network of micrometeorological instruments, portable syringe tracer samplers, continuous tracer analyzers, and infrared visualization of near source plume behavior.Atmospheric stability and wind speed profiles at this arctic site are influenced by the smooth (surface roughness = 0.03 cm), snow covered tundra surface which receives negligible levels of solar isolation in winter. The dispersion of pollutants emitted from sources within the oil gathering facility, however, is dominated by the influence of nearby buildings when high winds generate elevated ground level concentrations. An order of magnitude increase in maximum ground level concentration was observed as wind speeds increased from 5 to 8 m s⁻¹ and another order of magnitude increase was observed as winds increased from 8 to 16 m s⁻¹. Variation in maximum concentrations was also observed with changes in wind direction. Vertical plume diffusion (σ_z) near the buildings was a factor of 2–3 greater than that observed in open terrain and was dependent on both wind speed and the projected building width and location of nearby buildings. Wind tunnel tracer distributions for east winds agree with field observations but also indicate that a significant increase in plume downwash occurs with other wind directions. Concentration distributions were calculated using several versions of the Industrial Source Complex (ISC) model. Model estimates of ground level concentrations were within a factor of three depending on wind direction. The model predictions are extremely sensitive to the ratio of plume height to vertical plume diffusion which is significantly influenced by a complex aerodynamic wake in the field.     

Preliminary studies of video images of smoke dispersion in the near wake of a model building

A summary of analyses of video images of smoke in a wind tunnel study of dispersion in the near wake of a model building is presented. The analyses provide information on both the instantaneous and time-average patterns of dispersion. Since the images represent vertically-integrated or crosswind-integrated smoke concentration, only the primary spatial and temporal scales of pollutant dispersion can be examined. Special graphic displays of the results are presented to assist in the data interpretation. The video image format is shown to have great potential as an easily quantifiable electronic medium for studying the dispersion of smoke.     

杭州湾地区核电厂大气中尺度扩散特征研究

采用拉格朗日随机粒子扩散模式和当地实际气象资料,模拟以秦山核电厂为排放源的大气污染物在杭州湾地区的中尺度扩散情况.对代表性年份(1996)各季中月整4个月模拟结果的分析表明,各季平均扩散输送特征受季节变化和当地海陆地形分布的影响明显.春夏季(4,7月)以溯杭州湾往偏西和偏北内陆方向的输送为主,冬秋季(1,10月)主要为向杭州湾南岸及外海诸方向的输送.区域平均扩散能力以春季(4月)为强,秋季(10月)较弱.污染物扩散输送出模拟区域的平均时间春季略小于15h,秋季约24h,冬夏季约20h.     

怠速条件下汽车排气污染物在排气尾流中扩散特性的实验研究

通过实验的方法对怠速条件下汽车排气污染物在排气尾流中的扩散特性进行了研究.测定了怠速条件下汽车排气尾流中的污染物体积分数及其分布,并比较分析了3种不同类型汽车的污染物排放体积分数及其变化.实验结果表明,怠速时汽车排气尾流中的污染物体积分数按照近似指数函数的趋势迅速降低到接近大气背景值;不同类型汽车排气尾流中的污染物体积分数的差别非常明显;排气方向对汽车排放污染物的扩散及其分布具有重要的影响.研究工作可以为怠速工况下汽车排气污染物对周围环境的影响评价提供更多的有用信息.     

Parallel processing of a random-walk model of atmospheric dispersion

Algorithms for random-walk models of atmospheric dispersion take considerable processing time on sequential computers. Such algorithms are, however, more suited to parallel computers as they contain a high degree of parallelism. In this paper, to show this suitability and to investigate the improvement in the processing time with the use of a parallel computer, the model algorithm developed and applied in Luhar and Britter (1989, Atmospheric Environment23, 1911–1924) has been implemented on a Distributed Array of Processors (DAP). The results show a 14-fold improvement in the processing time over a sequential machine.     

Comparison of measurements and integral model predictions of hot water plume behaviour in a crossflow

Measurements of the trajectory and dilution rate of a hot water jet entering vertically into a crossflow have been made in a water flume. Under various source conditions, thermistor probes at selected downstream locations were used to map out the cross-sectional extent of the plume, and thus to establish mean plume altitude and cross-sectional area as functions of distance from the source. These measurements were compared against the predictions of a simple integral model, similar to well-established models in the literature but modified for use in the flume study by the inclusion of an equation of state for water and an empirical correlation for the length of the potential core. An approximate analytical solution of the integral conservation equations, valid for both gaseous and water plumes, is presented. With entrainment and added mass constants very close to those previously estimated for gaseous plumes, good agreement between measured and predicted plume trajectory and dilution rate was found over the range of source conditions tested.     

A model of instrument smoothing and thresholding in measurements of turbulent dispersion

Since instruments used to measure the concentration of contaminants dispersing in turbulent flows cannot fully resolve all of the scales present, they inevitably smooth out the concentration fluctuations. Measurement and data processing systems may also have associated thresholds, so it is of interest to consider the effect of any smoothing and thresholding on such concentration fluctuations. A one-dimensional model of the effect of smoothing and thresholding on statistics of the concentration fluctuations, in particular the variance, is presented. The major effect in the model is the reduction of variance through averaging. For threshold values occurring in many experiments the effect of thresholding is small, but in some cases the threshold is large enough to give a significant effect. This effect can either be to decrease or to increase the perceived variance, depending on the values of the intermittency and of the smoothing scale. The variation of the effect of smoothing throughout a plume is considered, including a modification to the model for the case of a meandering plume. It is demonstrated that, for a given instrument resolution, the most important model parameter to estimate is the representative absolute width of regions of non-zero concentration. The model shows the same qualitative dependences as are found from experiment, and gives good quantitative agreement with experiment in many of the cases considered. The results suggest, in agreement with results derived elsewhere using signal processing theory, that in the experiments considered in this paper the instruments have relatively little effect on the variance.     

Improvement of the modelling of daytime nitrogen oxide oxidation in plumes by using instantaneous plume dispersion parameters

The effect of concentration fluctuations on the modelling of non-linear chemical reactions in the atmosphere will be considerable when hourly mean dispersion parameters are used. This effect can be reduced by introducing instantaneous dispersion parameters, as will be shown in this paper for the modelling of the oxidation of NO emited into an O₃ containing atmosphere.We used the results of atmospheric tracer gas experiments to derive the dimensions of the instanteneous plume. With these results model calculations were carried out for the NOO₃ reaction. Results were compared with airborne measurements of NO oxidation in the plumes of Dutch power plants.The introduction of the instantaneous plume leads to better agreement between model calculations and measurements. It is also found that the deviation from photochemical equilibrium in the plume is considerably smaller when instantaneous, instead of hourly, mean dispersion parameters are used. The dimension of the instantaneous plume did not show a dependence on atmospheric stability.     

The MRBT model: an analytical dispersion model in a finite mixing layer. Sensitivity analysis and validation against tracer measurements

This paper describes the characteristics of the MRBT model for studying the dispersion of a pollutant in the lower atmosphere under conditions of spatial homogeneity. The MRBT is shown to be a simple and efficient model based upon a non-stationary analytical solution of the atmospheric dispersion equation in a finite mixing layer. The results of the sensitivity analysis and of validation testing, made with field measurements of tracers carried out at the Nuclear Research Centre in Karlsruhe (Germany), demonstrate the superiority of MRBT with respect to traditional Gaussian models. The model is currently implemented in FORTRAN 77 for the personal computer and is suitable for an initial assessment of short-term atmospheric dispersion with limited computing resources.     

A surface-layer similarity model for the dispersion of a skewed passive puff near the ground

A model for the dispersion of a passive puff near the ground is developed. The model is based on the Monin-Obukhov similarity theory for the atmospheric surface layer, which is used to specify eddy diffusivities and the wind speed profile. Starting from the diffusion equation in a puff-following coordinate-system, rate equations are derived for the standard deviations of the concentration distribution and for its skewness. Approximate solutions are obtained for the shape of the concentration distribution and for the puff velocity.     

A comparison of concentration estimates by the OMG VOLUME-SOURCE dispersion model with three line source dispersion models

A comparison is presented between observed SF₆ concentrations and values estimated using the OMG VOLUME-SOURCE model and three line source dispersion models; JEA (Japan Environmental Agency) model, TOKYO model and EPA HIWAY-2 model. SF₆ concentration values were measured at heights from 1 to 20 m at from 7 to 192 m from roadways in three major urban areas: Osaka, Nagoya and Kobe. It is concluded from the comparison statistics that, of the dispersion models tested, the OMG VOLUME-SOURCE model provides the most precise and accurate representation of the actual gas dispersion.A comparison was made of the depth of the volume source and the initial vertical spread as used in Gaussian plume line source models. The initial vertical spread was found to be 0.8–1 times as large as the thickness of the volume source.     

Parameters effect on heterogeneous photocatalysed degradation of phenol in aqueous dispersion of TiO_2

In this study, photocatalytic degradation of phenol selected as model compound of organic pollutant had been investigated in aqueous titanium dioxide (TiO2) dispersion under UV irradiation. The effects of various parameters such as pH, catalyst concentration, phenol concentration, anions, metal ions, electron acceptors, and surfactants on the photocatalytic degradation of phenol were investigated. The degradation kinetics was determined by the change in phenol concentration employing UV-Vis spectrometry as a function of irradiation time. The degradation kinetics of phenol follows pseudo first-order kinetics. The results showed a significant dependence of the photocatalytic degradation of phenol on the functional parameters. The probable promising roles of the additives on the degradation process were discussed.     

线源扩散的快速模拟

提出了一种计算风向与线源成任意角时任意长地面线源大气扩散的简化模式。通过与数值积分方法计算结果的比较表明,模式的最大相对误差在风向与线源平行时最大,但不超过18％。随风向与线源夹角的增大,相对误差迅速减小,当夹角大于5°时,已小于2％。为城镇公路网大气扩散的快速、准确模拟提供了新手段。     

中国北方牧区牧草气候资源评价模型

分析确定能够反映中国北方牧区牧草与气候资源条件的7个气候因子,应用模糊数学方法,建立牧草气候资源评价模型,选取中国北方5省(区)168个气象站点资料进行计算,分别从资源总体状况、资源效能、资源利用角度对中国北方5省(区)牧草生态气候资源分布状况进行评价,在此基础上,进一步分析了代表我国北方牧区最主要气候资源分布类型的三种典型区域的气候资源特点,为畜牧业发展及草地生态保护提供决策依据。     

A three-dimensional steady-state atmospheric dispersion-deposition model for emissions from a ground-level area source

An analytical solution to the steady-state three-dimensional atmospheric dispersion equation has been developed for the transport of non-buoyant emissions from a continuous ground-level area source. The model incorporates power law profiles for the variation of wind speed and vertical eddy diffusivity with height, represents the lateral eddy diffusivity as a function of wind speed and the crosswind dispersion coefficient, and includes dry deposition as a removal mechanism. The model is well suited for accurate prediction of emission concentration levels in the vicinity of an area source, as well as farther downwind, under neutral or stable atmospheric conditions. The impact of the important model parameters on contaminant dispersion is examined. The results from several simulations, compared with point and line sources of equivalent source strength, indicate that at short downwind distances, predictions of contaminant concentrations emitted from area sources may be unacceptably inaccurate unless the structure of the source is properly taken into account.     

Parameters e ect on heterogeneous photocatalysed degradation of phenol in aqueous dispersion of TiO2

Photocatalytic degradation of phenol selected as model compound of organic pollutant had been investigated in aqueous titanium dioxide (TiO2) dispersion under UV irradiation. The e ects of various parameters such as pH, catalyst concentration, phenol concentration, anions, metal ions, electron acceptors, and surfactants on the photocatalytic degradation of phenol were investigated. The degradation kinetics was determined by the change in phenol concentration employing UV-Vis spectrometry as a function of irradiation time. The degradation kinetics of phenol follows pseudo first-order kinetics. The results showed a significant dependence of the photocatalytic degradation of phenol on the functional parameters. The probable promising roles of the additives on the degradation process were discussed