AERMOD on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The AERMOD
/ref>Prater, E.T. and Midgley, C., ''A new air dispersion modeling system is helping create more accurate industrial source models'', Environmental Protection, Vol. 17, No. 3, Stevens Publishing
*A steady-state dispersion model designed for short-range (up to 50 kilometers) dispersion of direct
McVehil-Monnet Associates ''Air Quality Newsletter''
*Source types: Multiple point, area and volume sources
*Source releases: Surface, near surface and elevated sources
*Source locations: Urban or rural locations. Urban effects are scaled by population.
*Plume types: Continuous, buoyant plumes
*Plume deposition: Dry or wet deposition of
www.crcpress.com
www.air-dispersion.com
The EPA's download site for AERMOD
(Model code, User's Guide and other material)
Brode, R.W., ''Implementation and Evaluation of the AERMOD-PRIME Model''
(AMS Conference, May 21, 2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Aermod Atmospheric dispersion modeling Numerical climate and weather models American Meteorological Society United States Environmental Protection Agency
atmospheric dispersion modeling
Atmospheric dispersion modeling is the mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere. It is performed with computer programs that include algorithms to solve the mathematical equations that govern the pollutant ...
system is an integrated system that includes three modules:AERMOD:Description of Model Formulation/ref>Prater, E.T. and Midgley, C., ''A new air dispersion modeling system is helping create more accurate industrial source models'', Environmental Protection, Vol. 17, No. 3, Stevens Publishing
*A steady-state dispersion model designed for short-range (up to 50 kilometers) dispersion of direct air pollutant
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...
emissions
Emission may refer to:
Chemical products
* Emission of air pollutants, notably:
**Flue gas, gas exiting to the atmosphere via a flue
** Exhaust gas, flue gas generated by fuel combustion
** Emission of greenhouse gases, which absorb and emit rad ...
primarily from stationary industrial sources.
* A meteorological data preprocessor
In computer science, a preprocessor (or precompiler) is a program that processes its input data to produce output that is used as input in another program. The output is said to be a preprocessed form of the input data, which is often used by so ...
(AERMET) that accepts surface meteorological data, upper air soundings, and optionally, data from on-site instrument towers. It then calculates atmospheric parameters needed by the dispersion model, such as atmospheric turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...
characteristics, mixing heights, friction velocity, Monin-Obukov length and surface heat flux.
* A terrain
Terrain or relief (also topographical relief) involves the vertical and horizontal dimensions of land surface. The term bathymetry is used to describe underwater relief, while hypsometry studies terrain relative to sea level. The Latin wo ...
preprocessor (AERMAP) whose main purpose is to provide a physical relationship between terrain features and the behavior of air pollution plumes. It generates location and height data for each receptor location. It also provides information that allows the dispersion model to simulate the effects of air flowing over hills or splitting to flow around hills.
AERMOD also includes PRIME (Plume Rise Model Enhancements) which is an algorithm for modeling the effects of downwash created by the pollution plume flowing over nearby buildings.
History of the development of AERMOD
AERMOD was developed by the AERMIC (American Meteorological Society
The American Meteorological Society (AMS) is the premier scientific and professional organization in the United States promoting and disseminating information about the atmospheric, oceanic, and hydrologic sciences. Its mission is to advance th ...
(AMS)/United States Environmental Protection Agency
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it ...
(EPA) Regulatory Model Improvement Committee), a collaborative working group of scientists from the AMS and the EPA. The AERMIC was initially formed in 1991.
The AERMIC developed AERMOD in seven steps:
*Initial model formulation
*Developmental evaluation
*Internal peer review
Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work ( peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the relevant field. Peer revie ...
and beta testing
*Revised model formulation
*Performance evaluation and sensitivity testing
*External peer review
*Submission to the EPA for consideration as a regulatory model.
On April 21 of 2000, the EPA proposed that AERMOD be adopted as the EPA's preferred regulatory model for both simple and complex terrain. On November 9 of 2005, AERMOD was adopted by the EPA and promulgated as their preferred regulatory model, effective as of December 9 of 2005. The entire developmental and adoption process took 14 years (from 1991 to 2005).
Features and capabilities of AERMOD
Some of the primary features and capabilities of AERMOD are:particulates
Particulates – also known as atmospheric aerosol particles, atmospheric particulate matter, particulate matter (PM) or suspended particulate matter (SPM) – are microscopic particles of solid or liquid matter suspended in the air. The t ...
and/or gases
* Plume dispersion treatment: Gaussian model treatment in horizontal and in vertical for stable atmospheres. Non-Gaussian treatment in vertical for unstable atmospheres
*Terrain types: Simple or complex terrain
*Building effects: Handled by PRIME downwash algorithms
*Meteorology data height levels: Accepts meteorology data from multiple heights
*Meteorological data profiles: Vertical profiles of wind, turbulence and temperature are created
See also
*Air pollution dispersion terminology
In environmental science, air pollution dispersion is the distribution of air pollution into the atmosphere. ''Air pollution'' is the introduction of particulates, biological molecules, or other harmful materials into Earth's atmosphere, causing ...
*Atmospheric dispersion modeling
Atmospheric dispersion modeling is the mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere. It is performed with computer programs that include algorithms to solve the mathematical equations that govern the pollutant ...
* Bibliography of atmospheric dispersion modeling
*List of atmospheric dispersion models
Atmospheric dispersion models are computer programs that use mathematical algorithms to simulate how pollutants in the ambient atmosphere disperse and, in some cases, how they react in the atmosphere.
US Environmental Protection Agency models
Man ...
* Useful conversions and formulas for air dispersion modeling
References
Further reading
For those who are unfamiliar with air pollution dispersion modelling and would like to learn more about the subject, it is suggested that either one of the following books be read:www.crcpress.com
www.air-dispersion.com
External links
The EPA's download site for AERMOD
(Model code, User's Guide and other material)
Brode, R.W., ''Implementation and Evaluation of the AERMOD-PRIME Model''
(AMS Conference, May 21, 2002) {{DEFAULTSORT:Aermod Atmospheric dispersion modeling Numerical climate and weather models American Meteorological Society United States Environmental Protection Agency