AIR POLLUTION

METEOROLOGY
Part II
INTRODUCTION
Plumes of
Pollution
 Plume of Pollution
• Formed whenever pollutants emitted from a source
into the atmosphere continuously over a period of
time.
• Major factors that influence the dispersion of
smokestack plumes:
o Local atmospheric stability (determines the rate of
vertical mixing and dilution of the plume).
o Winds (control the distance that the pollution can travel
and the areas that will be affected).
• Turbulence and convection control the local mixing
of a plume, while advection by winds controls
transport.
• CONING—the shape of the plume is commonly vertically
symmetrical about what is call the plume line. , or spreads out, in
all directions as it travels from the stack.

• As you can see from the graph, the lapse rate of the surrounding
equals the adiabatic lapse rate

• Pollutants from the smokestack are dispersed more slowly and

remain in the air in a higher concentration

• It is likely to occur on cloudy days or on sunny days between the

breakup of a radiation inversion and the development of unstable
daytime conditions
• As you can see from the graph, the lapse rate of the surrounding air
is less negative than the adiabatic lapse rate.

• This situation is mildly stable. , the plume cannot spread vertically

but can disperse horizontally, producing a FAN

• Pollutants from the smokestack are dispersed more slowly and

remain in the air in a higher concentration.
• FUMIGATION occurs when stack emissions are dispersed to the
ground by the overturning of the atmosphere below an inversion
layer. As the ground warms in the morning, air below an inversion
layer becomes unstable.

• Ground-level pollutant concentrations can be very high when

fumigation occurs. Sufficiently tall stacks can prevent fumigation in
most cases.

• poses a potentially serious air pollution situation. Here the plume is

released just under an elevated inversion layer. When the low-level
unstable lapse rate reaches the plume, the effluent suddenly mixes
downward toward the ground.
LOOPING

• Pollution is mixed well within the

The lapse rate of the atmosphere and is quickly dispersed,
surrounding air is more therefore reducing the concentration
negative than the adiabatic of pollutants that the people breathe
lapse rate ( unstable ) • Looping occurs in an unstable
While unstable conditions atmosphere where upward and
are generally downward motions in large turbulent
favorable for pollutant eddies are equally likely.
dispersion, momentarily • Plume whips up and down as the
high ground-level atmosphere mixes around (whenever
concentrations can an air parcel goes up, there must be
occur if the plume loops air going down someplace else to
downward to the surface.. maintain continuity, and the plume
follows these air currents).
LOFTING
• The plume stays above the
surface inversion. This occurs
shortly after transition from
unstable to stable conditions near
sunset.
• The plume can be thin or
become quite thick. Depending on
the height of the stake and the
rate of deepening of the inversion • the release of a plume above the inversion
layer the lofting condition may be
very transitory or it may persist for
several hours.
• In lofting pollution dilutes upward. This
produces much lower pollution concentrations
at the ground at a distance downstream than
the straight stable case (fanning plume),
because molecular diffusion and some
turbulence allow smoke to reach the ground
eventually, and the fanning plume does not
have the upward dispersion that the lofting
plume has.
results in effective dispersion without
noticeable effects on ground level
concentrations around the source
Vertical Mixing : Effect on
plume shape
• A. LOOPING—large-scale turbulent eddies cause sizable parcels of
air, together with portions of the plume, to deviate from a straight
downwind direction
• B. CONING—the shape of the plume is commonly vertically
symmetrical about what is call the plume line.
• C. FANNING—suppressed vertical mixing, but not horizonal mixing
entirely causes the plume to spread only parallel to the ground and
appears to take on the shape of a fan as seen from below.
• D. LOFTING—the lapse rate in the upper portion of the plume is
unstable and in the lower it is stable. Mixing is vigorous in the upward
direction.
• E. FUMIGATION—poses a potentially serious air pollution situation.
Here the plume is released just under an elevated inversion layer.
When the low-level unstable lapse rate reaches the plume, the
effluent suddenly mixes downward toward the ground.
• In the effluent from a smelter in a valley is trapped in a radiational
inversion, diffusing neither upward or downward, but drifting down the
valley, the ground level concentration will be highest. The daily
uniform warming of the valley floor erodes the inversion from
beneath, and when the layer containing pollutants becomes unstable
widespread fumigation occurs along a great length of the valley.
• Radio acoustic
sounding (RASS)
profile of a temperature
inversion
• The top plot is an
hourly averaged profile
of virtual temperature
obtained from RASS
observations. The
capping inversion is
well defined and below
the base of the
inversion (700 m) there
is a unstable region
down to 470 m
 Non-local Stability

• For the non-local characterization of static

stability, you take environmental sounding over
a deep layer between surface and level where
vertical parcel movements are likely to become
insignificant

• To determine the stability of each layer, the

parcels of air should be displaced up and down
from all possible starting points within the
domain
 Stability Examples
• An example of a stable atmosphere is when
there is a steady breeze in the atmosphere.

• An example of an unstable atmosphere is

when a storm is hitting. When winds are
blowing strong.

• An example of a neutral atmosphere is when

there is no winds. When there is no buoyancy
force. When the atmosphere is calm/still.
 Temperature Inversion
• Conditions characterized by high atmospheric stability. They limit the vertical
circulation of air, resulting in air stagnation and the trapping of air pollutants in
localized areas

• Temperature increases with height.

• 4 ways to produce atmospheric thermal inversion

o Cool a layer of air from below (eg. Radiation inversion)
o Heat a layer of air from above (eg. In sunny, low wind situation)
o A flow of a layer of warm air over a layer of cold air (eg sea breeze )
o A flow of a layer of warm air over a layer of cool air(eg. drainage inversion)

• Within an inversion air is stable against buoyant vertical motion. That stability
lessens exchange of wind energy between air layer near ground and high
altitude winds, so that both horizontal and vertical dispersion of pollutants are
hindered resulting in accumulation of pollutant
 Major types of temperature
inversions
• Marine inversion.
• Regional subsidence inversion.
• High-pressure inversion.
• Radiation inversion.
 Radiation inversion forms when heat is rapidly lost from the
surface by thermal radiation.

thermal radiation = infrared radiation = longwave

Radiation inversions are most likely to form on clear

nights with low winds. Clear skies are necessary for
the surface radiation to escape; overlying clouds or
fog absorb thermal radiation and radiate back to the
surface.
Marine inversion forms when a layer of Sea and land breezes
warm air from land overlying a cold
marine air.

• Although they may persist in some areas during the day, are strongest

and most noticeable at night.

• Fog and stratus clouds often form in the cool marine air at night and
move inland into coastal basins and valleys.
• If the cold air is quite shallow, fog usually forms. If the layer is deep,
• During the daytime land heats up much faster than water as it receives
solar radiation from the Sun.
• The warmer air over the land then begins to expand and rise forming a
thermal low. At the same time, the air over the ocean becomes a cool
high because of water's slower rate of heating.
• Air begins to flow as soon as there is a significant difference in air
temperature and pressure across the land to sea gradient.
• The development of this pressure gradient causes the heavier cooler air
over the ocean to move toward the land and to replace the air rising in
the thermal low (sea breeze)
• At sunset, the land surface stops receiving radiation from the Sun .
• As night continues the land surface begins losing heat energy at a much
faster rate than the water surface.
• Air temperature and pressure contrasts begin to develop between the
land and ocean surfaces.
• The land surface being cooler than the water becomes a thermal high
pressure area and the ocean becomes a warm thermal low.
• Wind flow moves from the land to the open ocean (land breeze)
Regional subsidence inversion forms when air flows over an obstacle
such as a mountain range of blows from a high plateau and descends
into a lower basin overlying a colder air at the surface.
• High-pressure inversion forms when a stationary warm high-
pressure system settles over a region.
 Atmospheric Circulation
• Winds blow because of differences in atmospheric
pressure.
• Pressure gradients may develop on a local to a global scale
because of differences in the heating and cooling of the
Earth's surface.
• The basic circulation system is developed when there is no
horizontal temperature or pressure gradient, therefore no
wind.
• Atmospheric pressure decreases with altitude as depicted
by the drawn isobars (1000 to 980 millibars).
• When the potential for solar heating is added, it will
creates contrasting surface areas of temperature
and atmospheric pressure.
• The area to the right receives more solar radiation and the air begins to
warm from heat energy transferred from the ground
through conduction and convection.
• The vertical distance between the isobars becomes greater as the air
rises.
• To the far left, less radiation is received because of the presence of
cloud, and this area becomes relatively cooler than the area to the right.
• In the upper atmosphere, a pressure gradient begins to form because of
the rising air and upward spreading of the isobars.
• The air then begins to flow in the upper atmosphere from high
pressure to low pressure.
• Beneath the upper atmosphere high is a thermal low pressure center
created from the heating of the ground surface.
• Below the upper atmosphere low is a thermal high created by the
relatively cooler air temperatures and enhanced by the descending air
from above.
• Surface air temperatures are cooler here because of the obstruction of
shortwave radiation absorption at the Earth's surface by the cloud.
• At the surface, the wind blows from the high to the low pressure.
• Once at the low, the wind rises up to the upper air high pressure system
because of thermal buoyancy and outflow in the upper atmosphere.
• From the upper high, the air then travels to the upper air low, and then
back down to the surface high to complete the circulation cell.
 Temperature Differences
Drive Air Circulation
• The regions around equator, at 0° latitude
are heated more by the sun than the rest of
the globe.
• Hot air is lighter than cold air and will rise
into the sky until it reaches approximately
10 km (6 miles) altitude and will spread to
the North and the South.
• If the globe did not rotate, the air would
simply arrive at the North Pole and the
South Pole, sink down, and return to the
equator.
 The Coriolis Force
• Since the globe is rotating, any movement
on the Northern hemisphere is diverted to
the right, if we look at it from our own
position on the ground.
• In the southern hemisphere it is bent to the
left
• This apparent bending force is known as
the Coriolis force.
• Named after the French mathematician
Gustave Gaspard Coriolis (1792-1843).
How the Coriolis Force Affects
Global Winds
• The wind rises from the equator and moves north
and south in the higher layers of the atmosphere.
• Around 30° latitude in both hemispheres the
Coriolis force prevents the air from moving much
farther. At this latitude there is a high pressure
area, as the air begins sinking down again.
• As the wind rises from the equator there will be a
low pressure area close to ground level attracting
winds from the North and South.
• At the Poles, there will be high pressure due to the
cooling of the air.
• The magnitude of the Coriolis force is proportional to
the object's or wind's speed (speed=0 means Coriolis
force is zero), the speed of the Earth's rotation (if the
Earth were not rotating, there would be zero Coriolis
force; if the Earth spun twice as fast as it does now, the
Coriolis force would double the same object speed),
and
• latitude (Coriolis force is zero at the Equator for any
motion, and reaches a maximum magnitude at either
pole).
• The direction of the Coriolis force depends on the
rotation direction of the Earth. It would appear that the
Earth rotates in opposite directions when you look
down on the North and South Poles, so the Coriolis
force acts in opposite directions in the two
hemispheres. In both cases, though, the Coriolis force
always acts at a right angle to the present direction of
motion (so if the object turns, the Coriolis force turns
to stay at a right angle).
 Prevailing Winds
Latitude 90-60°N 60-30°N 30-0°N 0-30°S 30-60°S 60-90°S

 Direction NE SW NE SE NW SE
 The Geostrophic Wind
• Largely driven by temperature differences, and
thus pressure differences, and are not very much
influenced by the surface of the earth, so it is found
at altitudes above 1000 metres (3300 ft.) above
ground level.
• Moves parallel to the isobars or lines of equal
pressure. The pressure gradient force tries to
direct the wind perpendicular to the isobars from
high to low pressure. Once the wind is in motion
the Coriolis effect or force begins to act in the
opposite direction to the pressure gradient force.
When these forces become equal and balanced
the wind moves parallel to the isobars.
• When we add friction to
the force diagram (most
likely scenario: we are
within 1 km of the
ground), the wind speed
is decreased below the
geostrophic wind speed
(subgeostrophic). This
decreases the Coriolis
force, throwing things
out of balance with the
PGF, whose magnitude
and direction can't
change as long as the
isobar/height contour
spacing and direction
don't change.
Local Winds
Sea Breezes
 Mountain-Valley Winds
• The valley wind originates on south-facing slopes
(north-facing in the southern hemisphere). When
the slopes and the neighboring air are heated the
density of the air decreases, and the air ascends
towards the top following the surface of the slope.
• At night the wind direction is reversed, and turns
into a downslope wind. If the valley floor is sloped,
the air may move down or up the valley, as a
canyon wind.
• These winds can be quite powerful: Examples are
the Foehn in the Alps in Europe, the Chinook in the
Rocky Mountains, and the Zonda in the Andes.
Local Winds: Mountain Winds
Wind Speed Measurement:
Anemometers
WIND SPEED
Ecological, Social, and
Environmental Impacts
 Conduction
• The transfer of heat from molecule to molecule
within a substance is called conduction.

• Occurs through molecular agitation and

collisions

• Heat is transferred from high temp. to low

temperatures.

• Not important in the atmosphere except close

to the surface.
 Convection
• The transfer of heat by movement of fluid (such
as air) is called convection.

• The convective heat transfer between the earth

and the atmosphere is divided into two types,
sensible heat and latent heat.

• Sensible heat we can sense and measure

• Latent heat is hidden warmth associated with

the change of state of matter.
 Convection

• A convection cell is
formed in the
atmosphere when air is
warmed at one location
and cooled at another.
 Radiation
• Radiative energy travels in the form of waves
(confined to a certain wavelength range).

• The higher the temp. the greater is the emitted

radiant energy and the shorter are the
wavelengths.

• In meteorology short-wave radiation (0.15-

4um) and long-wave (3-100um)
Radiation
 Enhancing Dispersion: Flow
Obstructions
• The turbulent wake behind a
building helps mix pollutants
to the ground that might not
have been there normally, in
a stable atmosphere.
• Downwash is especially bad
when there are pollution
sources on the top of the
building.
• It is important to get the
pollution emitted high
enough above the building
so that it does not get caught
in the downwash and get
carried down to the ground
 Enhancing Dispersion with
Smokestacks

• Pollution emitted
from a taller stack
has to travel a longer
distance to get to the
ground, so it will
become more dilute.