Numerical simulations of the transport and diffusion during the 1991 Winter Validation Study along the Front Range in Colorado
An important aspect of the US Department of Energy`s Atmospheric Studies in Complex Terrain (ASCOT) program is the development and evaluation of numerical models that predict transport and diffusion of pollutants in complex terrain. Operational mesoscale modeling of the transport of pollutants in complex terrain will become increasingly practical as computational costs decrease and additional data from high-resolution remote sensing instrumentation networks become available during the 1990s. Four-dimensional data assimilation (4DDA) techniques are receiving a great deal of attention recently not only to improve the initial conditions of mesoscale forecast models, but to create high-quality four-dimensional mesoscale analysis fields that can be used as input to air-quality models. In this study, a four-dimensional data assimilation technique based on Newtonian relaxation is incorporated into the Colorado State University (CSU) Regional Atmospheric Modeling System (RAMS) and evaluated using data taken from one experiment of the 1991 ASCOT field study along the front range of the Rockies in Colorado. The main objective of this study is to compare the observed surface concentrations with those predicted by a Lagrangian particle dispersion model and to demonstrate the effect of data assimilation on the simulated plume. In contrast to pervious studies in which the smallest horizontal grid spacing was 10 km (Stauffer and Seaman, 1991) and 8 km (Yamada and Hermi, 1991), data assimilation is applied in this study to domains with a horizontal grid spacing as small as 1 km.
- Research Organization:
- Westinghouse Savannah River Co., Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-89SR18035
- OSTI ID:
- 10192044
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-MS-92-160; CONF-9209158-8; ON: DE93002684
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 10. symposium on turbulence and diffusion,Portland, OR (United States),29 Sep - 2 Oct 1992; Other Information: PBD: [1992]
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Use of the 1991 ASCOT field study data in a mesoscale model employing a four-dimensional data assimilation technique
Use of the 1991 ASCOT field study data in a mesoscale model employing a four-dimensional data assimilation technique