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Experimental evaluation of plume depletion models

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6336012
In this paper we describe a field measurement program for the evaluation of plume depletion models using simultaneously released, depositing and nondepositing tracers. The testing of such models requires at least three kinds of information: a description of the meteorology that governs atmospheric transport and diffusion, an estimate of how rapidly the material of interest deposits to the surface, and a measurement of the airborne concentration distributions that result from the atmospheric diffusion and deposition of this material. The second requirement is particularly troublesome, since estimates of deposition rates vary over several orders of magnitude. Data were obtained from six dual-tracer releases during moderately stable to near-neutral conditions. The behavior of the nondepositing tracer was used to deduce the diffusion meteorology, while both tracers were used to determine C/sub d//C/sub o/, the ratio of the crosswind-integrated, depositing and nondepositing tracer concentrations. The deposition velocity of the depositing tracer was also obtained from the dual-tracer concentrations, using a novel method based on the surface depletion model of Horst (1977). The measured values of C/sub d//C/sub o/, were then compared to the predicted values for each of four Gaussian plume-depletion models.
Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest Lab., Richland, WA (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC06-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
6336012
Report Number(s):
PNL-SA-12153; CONF-841059-12; ON: DE85002374
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English