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FLUID MODELING OF ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION IN THE CONVECTIVE BOUNDARY LAYER
Citation:
Snyder, W H., R E. Lawson Jr., M. S. Shipman, AND J. Lu. FLUID MODELING OF ATMOSPHERIC DISPERSION IN THE CONVECTIVE BOUNDARY LAYER. BOUNDARY-LAYER METEOROLOGY 102(3):335-336, (2002).
Impact/Purpose:
This task objective is the development and improvement of state-of-the-science meteorology models and contributing process parameterizations for use in advanced air quality simulation model systems such as the Community Multi-scale Air Quality (CMAQ) modeling system and for other modeling studies and situations involving transport and dispersion of pollutants. Components of this work include: (a) improved meteorological and transport modeling, (b) improved meteorological modeling physics, (c) physical modeling of flows- building wakes, complex terrain, urban canyons, (d) modeling of transport and dispersion of specialized situations and (e) develop AERMOD (AMS/EPA Regulatory MODel).
Description:
Study of convective boundary layer (CBL) processes has depended largely upon laboratory analogs for many years. The pioneering work of Willis and Deardorff (1974) and some 35 subsequent papers by the same authors showed that much useful research could be accomplished with a relatively small and economical analog consisting of a tank of water that could be thermally stratified in an upper region, then heated from below to simulate the CBL. Unfortunately, the tank used for much of this early work no longer exists, while the need for additional experimental data continues. The impetus for the development of the current convection tank came from the need to understand the processes involved in the dispersion of pollutants within the CBL, especially the penetration of the inversion above the CBL by continuous plumes and instantaneous puffs of buoyant materials, for use in the development of better regulatory and emergency-preparedness models.