Dispersion modeling of air pollutants in the atmosphere: a review

Abstract

Modeling of dispersion of air pollutants in the atmosphere is one of the most important and challenging scientific problems. There are several natural and anthropogenic events where passive or chemically active compounds are emitted into the atmosphere. The effect of these chemical species can have serious impacts on our environment and human health. Modeling the dispersion of air pollutants can predict this effect. Therefore, development of various model strategies is a key element for the governmental and scientific communities. We provide here a brief review on the mathematical modeling of the dispersion of air pollutants in the atmosphere. We discuss the advantages and drawbacks of several model tools and strategies, namely Gaussian, Lagrangian, Eulerian and CFD models. We especially focus on several recent advances in this multidisciplinary research field, like parallel computing using graphical processing units, or adaptive mesh refinement.

Stable reduced-order models for pollutant dispersion in the built environment

“…[3]). While Gaussian-based and Lagrangian models are well established for the latter, Leel} ossy et al [4] identified that there is currently no accurate near-range atmospheric dispersion modeling approach available which complies with this short runtime.…”

CH<sub>4</sub> emission estimates from an active landfill site inferred from a combined approach of CFD modelling and in situ FTIR measurements

“…CFD models require a complex parameterisation compared to traditional Gaussian dispersion models, but they have been shown to provide increased accuracy over complex terrain (Buccolieri and Sabatino, 2011), which can be considered to be the case over the landfill site. Resolving three-dimensional distributions of wind flow and gas concentration in the modelling domain on small scales makes them an attractive choice compared to Lagrangian dispersion models (Leelőssy et al, 2014). The CFD model presented in this study has previously been evaluated by a comparison exercise against a wind tunnel experiment (Jeanjean et al, 2015) and measurements from an urban monitoring station .…”

Numerical modelling of dispersion of ammonia and chlorine in urban areas during emergency accident

“…[1,2] are used in risk analysis procedures. Easy and fast estimation have some major limitation: they simulate emergency scenario in open, flat terrain without any obstacles and with steady wind [3].…”