Atmospheric dispersion modeling
mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere
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 dispersion. The dispersion models are used to estimate the downwind ambient concentration of air pollutants or toxins emitted from sources such as industrial plants, vehicular traffic or accidental chemical releases. They can also be used to predict future concentrations under specific scenarios (i.e. changes in emission sources). Therefore, they are the dominant type of model used in air quality policy making. They are most useful for pollutants that are dispersed over large distances and that may react in the atmosphere. For pollutants that have a very high spatio-temporal variability (i.e. have very steep distance to source decay such as black carbon) and for epidemiological studies statistical land-use regression models are also used.
Dispersion models are important to governmental agencies tasked with protecting and managing the ambient air quality.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Atmospheric dispersion modeling” is mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Atmospheric, dispersion and modeling, not as a finished interpretation.
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This entry incorporates text from “Atmospheric dispersion modeling” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.