Module 3

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Atmospheric diffusion of
pollutants and their
analysis, atmospheric
stability and lapse rate

2
Atmospheric diffusion of pollutants and
their analysis
 Air pollution dispersion
• Air pollution dispersion 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 disease, death to humans, damage to
other living organisms such as food crops, or the natural or
built environment.

• Air pollution may come from anthropogenic or natural

sources. Dispersion refers to what happens to the pollution
during and after its introduction; understanding this may
help in identifying and controlling it.
 cont…

• Air pollution dispersion has become the focus

of environmental conservationists and
governmental environmental protection
agencies (local, state, province and national) of
many countries (which have adopted and used
much of the terminology of this field in their
laws and regulations) regarding air pollution
control.

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 Dispersion Modeling
Dispersion is the process of spreading out the emission
over a large area thereby reducing the concentration of
the pollutants.
Plume dispersion is in two dimensions:
horizontal and vertical.
It is assumed that the greatest concentration of the
pollutants is on the plume centerline in the direction
of the prevailing wind.
The further the away from the centerline the lower the
concentration.
 cont…
Air Quality Modeling (AQM)
• Predict pollutant concentrations at various locations
around the source.

• Identify source contribution to air quality problems.

• Assess source impacts and design control strategies.

• Predict future pollutant concentrations from sources

after implementation of new regulatory programs.
 cont…
Areas Surrounding the Site of Release
 contd…

Air Quality Modeling (AQM)

• Mathematical and numerical techniques are used in AQM to simulate the
dispersion of air pollutants.

• Modeling of the dispersion of pollutants

– Toxic and odorous substances
– Single or multiple points
– Point, Area, or Volume sources

• Input data required for Air Quality Modeling

– Source characteristics
– Meteorological conditions
– Site and surrounding conditions

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 cont…
Ambient Air Concentration Modeling
Types of Pollutant Sources
Point Sources
• e.g., stacks or vents

Area Sources
• e.g., landfills, ponds, storage piles

Volume Sources
• e.g., conveyors, structures with multiple vents
 cont…
Air Quality Models

DETERMINISTIC STATISTICAL PHYSICAL

REGRESSION EMPIRICAL
WINDTUNNEL
STEADY STATE TIME DEPENDENT SIMULATION

GAUSSIAN PLUME
BOX GRID SPECTRAL PUFF TRAJECTORY

EULERIAN
LAGRANGIAN

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 cont…
Factors Affecting Dispersion of Pollutants In The Atmosphere

 Source Characteristics
Emission rate of pollutant
Stack height
Exit velocity of the gas
Exit temperature of the gas
Stack diameter
– Meteorological Conditions
Wind velocity
Wind direction
Ambient temperature
Atmospheric stability
Atmospheric stability
 Atmospheric stability
• The ability of the atmosphere to enhance or to resist
atmospheric motions

• Influences the vertical movement of air.

• If the air parcels tend to sink back to their initial level after
the lifting exerted on them stops, the atmosphere is stable.

• If the air parcels tend to rise vertically on their own, even

when the lifting exerted on them stops, the atmosphere is
unstable.

• If the air parcels tend to remain where they are after lifting
stops, the atmosphere is neutral.
 cont…

• The stability depends on the ratio of

suppression to generation of turbulence.

• The stability at any given time will depend

upon static stability ( related to change in
temperature with height ), thermal turbulence (
caused by solar heating ), and mechanical
turbulence (a function of wind speed and
surface roughness).
 cont...

Stability classified into 6 classes (A – F)

A: strongly unstable
B: moderately unstable
C: slightly unstable
D: neutral
E: slightly stable
F: moderately stable
 cont...
• Atmospheric stability can be determined using
adiabatic lapse rate.
Γ > Γd Unstable

Γ = Γd Neutral

Γ < Γd Stable

 Γ is environmental lapse rate

 Γd is dry adiabatic lapse rate (10c/100m) and dT/dZ = -10c /100 m
 cont...
Atmospheric Stability Classification
• Schemes to define atmospheric stability are:
– P- G Method
– P-G / NWS Method
– The STAR Method
– BNL Scheme
– Sigma Phi Method
– Sigma Omega Method
– Modified Sigma Theta Method
– NRC Temperature Difference Method
– Wind Speed ratio (UR) Method
– Radiation Index Method
– AERMOD Method (Stable and Convective cases)
Lapse Rate

19
 Lapse Rate
• As a parcel of air rises in the earth's atmosphere it
experiences lower and lower pressure from the
surrounding air molecules, and thus it expands.

• This expansion lowers its temperature. Ideally, if it

does not absorb heat from its surroundings and it does
not contain any moisture, it cools at a rate of 1ºC/100
m rise.

• This is known as dry adiabatic lapse rate. If the parcel

moves down it warms up at the same rate.
 cont…

• For a particular place at a particular time, the

existing temperature can be determined by
sending up a balloon equipped with a
thermometer.

• The balloon moves through the air, and not with

it.

• The temperature profile of the air, which the

balloon measures, is called the ambient lapse
rate, environmental lapse rate, or the
prevailing lapse rate.
 cont…

• A super-adiabatic lapse rate also called a

strong lapse rate occurs when the atmosphere
temperature drops more than 1oC/100m.

• A sub-adiabatic rate also called weak lapse

rate, is characterized by drop of less than
1oC/100 m.
• A special case of weak lapse rate is the
inversion, a condition which has warmer layer
above colder air.
 cont…
• During super-adiabatic lapse rate the atmospheric
conditions are unstable.

• This is illustrated in Figure. If a parcel of air at 500m

elevation, at 20oC is pushed upward to 1000m, its
temperature will come down to 15oC (according to
adiabatic lapse rate).

• The prevailing temperature is however 10oC at

1000m. The parcel of air will be surrounded by colder
air and therefore will keep moving up
cont…
 cont…

• The parcel of air will be surrounded by colder

air and therefore will keep moving up.

• Similarly if the parcel is displaced

downwards, it will become colder than its
surroundings and therefore will move down.

• Super adiabatic conditions are thus unstable,

characterized by a great deal of vertical air
movement and turbulence.
 cont…
• The sub-adiabatic condition shown in Figure (b) is by
contrast a very stable system.

• Consider again a parcel of air at 500 m elevation at

20oC. If the parcel is displaced to 1000 m it will cool by
5oC to 15oC. But the surrounding air would be warmer.

• It will therefore fall back to its point of origin.

Similarly if a parcel of air at 500 m is pushed down, it
will become warmer than its surrounding and therefore
will rise back to its original position.

• Thus such systems are characterized by very limited

vertical mixing
 cont…
Inversion
• An inversion is an extreme sub-adiabatic condition, and
thus the vertical air movement within the inversion is
almost nil.

• The two most common kind of inversion are subsidence

inversion and radiation inversion. These are illustrated in
Figure .

• The base of the subsidence inversion lies some distance

above earth's surface.

• This type of inversion is formed due to adiabatic

compression and warming of sinking air mass to a lower
altitude in the region of a high pressure center.
 cont…
• In the case of radiation inversion, the surface layers of the
atmosphere during the day receive heat by conduction,
convection and radiation from the earth's surface and are
warmed.

• This results in a temperature profile in the lower atmosphere,

which is represented by a negative temperature gradient.
• On a clear night, the ground surface radiates heat and quickly
cools.
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Atmospheric stability

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