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POLLUTANT MEASUREMENTS IN PLUMES FROM POWER PLANTS AND CITIES. SUMMER 1975, FEBRUARY 1976, AND FEBRUARY 1977. A PROJECT MISTT REPORT
Citation:
Ogren, J., D. Blumenthal, J. Anderson, AND W. White. POLLUTANT MEASUREMENTS IN PLUMES FROM POWER PLANTS AND CITIES. SUMMER 1975, FEBRUARY 1976, AND FEBRUARY 1977. A PROJECT MISTT REPORT. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/7-78/041.
Description:
Airborne measurements of aerosols and polluted gases in urban and power plant plumes were conducted during the summer of 1975, February 1976, and February 1977 in the vicinity of St. Louis, Missouri; Moss Landing, California; and Clearwater, Florida, respectively. The principal objective was to characterize the physical and chemical behavior of these plumes under a variety of meteorological conditions, with emphasis on sulfur transport and transformation. Results illustrate the regional nature of air pollution. The transport of well-defined urban plumes over 150 km downwind of a city was documented during day and night conditions. Power plant plumes were sampled over 100 km downwind of the source at night and during the day over the ocean; strong dilution mechanisms limited the sampling of power plant plumes to 40 km during the day over land. Measurements indicated that, when the plume was not well mixed to the ground, the mass flux of sulfur in the plume did not change with distance. In urban plumes, a significant reduction in sulfur was found; only about one-third of the emissions were transported beyond 100 km downwind of the city. New techniques used in this study included an airborne impactors system for aerosol collection and atmospheric electrical measurements for plume tracting.