A simple operative formula for ground level concentration from a point source

• Published in: Transactions on ecology and the environment Vol. 157; pp. 23 - 32
• Main Authors: TIRABASSI, T, VILHENA, M. T, BUSKE, D
• Format: Conference Proceeding Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Southampton WIT Press 2012; W I T Press
• Subjects: Accidents; Advection-diffusion equation; Air pollution; Applied sciences; Atmospheric boundary layer; Atmospheric pollution; Boundary layers; Computer applications; Control equipment; Disasters; Environmental monitoring; Exact sciences and technology; Ground level; Pollutants; Pollution; Atmospheric boundary layer; Environment impact; Pollution source; Air pollution; Advection diffusion equation; Environmental monitoring; Pollutant emission; Steady state; Real time system; Point source
• ISBN: 1845645820; 9781845645823
• ISSN: 1746-448X; 1743-3541
• DOI: 10.2495/AIR120031

Irreversible consequences of air pollution in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) demand for increasing real time environmental monitoring and control as a routine instrument as well as for cases of environmental accidents or even catastrophes. In order to evaluate such scenarios one needs efficient procedures, which yield immediate results, for instance evaluating the ground level concentration of pollutants, and especially the maximum concentration and its position. The computational evaluation of numerical data of the concentration field or for a set of positions is an instant task using an analytical approach. So the Advection-Diffusion Equation is solved for a steady-state pollutant emission from a point-like source placed inside an unstable Atmospheric Boundary Layer. Then, an explicit approximate expression is provided for it, allowing an analytic simple expression for the position and value of the maximum.