Model comparison in simulating the atmospheric dispersion of a pollutant plume in low wind conditions

Abstract

Simulations of emitted plume dispersion in atmosphere performed by means of different models are compared: the study evaluates the capabilities of gaussian and lagrangian models in simulating pollutant plume dispersion in low wind conditions

Impact Assessment of Pollutant Emissions in the Atmosphere from a Power Plant over a Complex Terrain and under Unsteady Winds

“…SPRAY is a Lagrangian stochastic model for the simulation of the dispersion of passive pollutants in a complex terrain and non-homogenous conditions, under calm and low wind events [14]. The model operates in non-stationary conditions by approximating temporal variations in successive stationary states.…”

“…Lagrangian models are the used to properly simulate the pollutant dispersion in a complex terrain [14,15,17,[19][20][21]: SPRAY does not include atmospheric photochemical processes, and only few models coupling Lagrangian dispersion with atmospheric chemistry exist in the literature of [32][33][34]. This study aimed to assess the impact of NO x stack emissions on local air quality: since regulatory emission limits for combustion plants are set for NO x (2010/75/UE), while for air quality are set for NO 2 (2008/50/EC), the simulation of NO x dispersion represents a conservative and precautionary approach, since NO x includes both NO 2 and NO.…”

“…The models available are many, featured by different degrees of complexity and different performances. Simulation results produced by different models may not be comparable during some specific atmospheric conditions, such as low winds [14] or local scale winds of breeze, and also over complex topography [15][16][17][18][19][20][21].…”

Tri-generation power plant and conventional boilers: pollutant flow rate and atmospheric impact of stack emissions

“…Previous studies showed the successful use of SPRAY as a regulatory model (e.g. Ferrero et al 2001;Ghermandi et al 2012), thanks to its ability to provide a correct estimate of ground-level concentrations both in complex circulation patterns (e.g. Gariazzo et al 2007) and in low-wind or calm conditions, as mentioned above.…”

Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling and Spatial Analysis to Evaluate Population Exposure to Pesticides from Farming Processes

“…For this reason, a second model that takes into account the effect of local meteorology on the atmospheric dispersion of pesticides was tested. In the literature, there are a number of applications of dispersion models to assess the dispersion of pesticides, both relying on pre-existing models, i.e., Gaussian or grid models [17][18][19][20][21][22], or by specifically developed models, such as AgDRIFT TM [23] (US Forest Service, USA), AGDISP TM [24] (USDA Forest Service, USA), PERFUM [25] (EPA, USA). However, these models are usually designed to work with a very limited number of sources for micro or local scale simulations.…”