Abstract
This paper traces the evolution of my “simple urban dispersion model”, beginning with the 1971 Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Laboratory (ATDL) urban dispersion model, which was developed for application to urban area sources of radon. The Gaussian plume model is the basis, with use of Gifford’s novel derivation involving integration over upwind sources. The development continued with the addition of an urban meteorological preprocessor in the Hybrid Plume Dispersion Model (HPDM), accounting for the effects of strong mechanical mixing and increases in turbulence intensity in urban areas. Since 2000, the simple urban model was modified for US Department of Defense applications regarding toxic gas releases in built-up city centers, and tested with extensive field data. One model option is the Gaussian formula and another is an even simpler dimensionless relation.
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Hanna, S. (2014). A 40-Year History of a Simple Urban Dispersion Model and Its Evaluation. In: Steyn, D., Mathur, R. (eds) Air Pollution Modeling and its Application XXIII. Springer Proceedings in Complexity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04379-1_54
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04379-1_54
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