THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS - A Philosophical Perspective

Default Mixing Height Usable measurements of mixing height are rare with sufficient frequency.They are, nevertheless, required by atmospheric simulation models. Idellay, they can be derived from vertical soundings (rare, at best once a day) or calculated from 3D meteorological models. A very simple pragmatic alternative is the use of simple default values related to wind speed and stability class. Atmospheric Stability Horizontal wind speed, m/s Default Mixing Height, m A   very unstable 0.5-2 2000 B   unstable 0.5-2 1500 C   slightly unstable 2-10 1000 D   neutral 3-10 750 E   stable 2-5 300 F   very stable 0.5-3 250 G   extremely stable 0.5-1 250

THE ECOLOGICAL CRISIS - A Philosophical Perspective

Transport and diffusion from source to receptor  Air Pollutant Cycle  Dispersion General mean air motion Turbulent velocity fluctuationsTurbulent velocity fluctuations Diffusion due to concentration gradients – from plumes Aerodynamic characteristics of pollution Particles - Size - Shape - Weight Not always completely understood Two types: Atmospheric heating - Causes natural convection currents --- discussed - Thermal eddies Mechanical turbulence - Results from shear wind effects - Result from air movement over the earth’s surface, influenced by location of buildings and relative roughness of terrain.  Lapse Rate Important characteristic of atmosphere is ability to resist vertical motion: stability Affects ability to disperse pollutants When small volume of air is displaced upward - Encounters lower pressure - Expands to lower temperature - Assume no heat transfers to surrounding atmosphere - Called adiabatic expansion  Adiabatic Expansion To determine the change in temp. w/ elevation due to adiabatic expansion . - Atmosphere considered a stationary column of air in a gravitational field - Gas is a dry ideal gas - Ignoring friction and inertial effects ( dT/dz)adiabatic perfect gas = - (g M/ Cp) T = temperature z = vertical distance g = acceleration due to gravity M = molecular weight of air Cp = heat capacity of the gas at constant pressure  Adiabatic Expansion ( dT/dz)adiabatic perfect gas = -0.0098°C/m or ( dT/dz)adiabatic perfect gas = -5.4°F/ft Change in Temp. with change in height  Lapse rate Lapse rate is the negative of temperature gradient Dry adiabatic lapse rate = Metric: Metric: G = - 1°C/100m or SI: G = - 5.4°F/1000ft Important is ability to resist vertical motion: stability. Comparison of G to actual environment lapse rate indicates stability of atmosphere. Degree of stability is a measure of the ability of the atmosphere to disperse pollutants.  Atmospheric Stability Affects dispersion of pollutants Temperature/elevation relationship principal determinant of atmospheric stability Stable - Little vertical mixing - Pollutants emitted near surface tend to stay there - Environmental lapse rate is same as the dry adiabatic lapse rate  4 common scenarios  Stability Classes Developed for use in dispersion models Developed for use in dispersion models Stability classified into 6 classes (A – F) A: strongly unstable B: moderately unstable C: slightly unstable D: neutral E: slightly stable F: moderately stable Vertical Temperature Profiles  Environmental lapse rate (ELR) Dry adiabatic lapse rate (DALR) If, ELR > DALR =sub adiabatic condition, atmosphere is stable. ELR >> DALR= Inversion conditions. Very stable atmosphere. ELR= DALR= atmosphere is neutral. ELR< DALR = super adiabatic condition, atmosphere is unstable. Shapes of plumes depends upon atmospheric stability conditions.  Mixing Height of atmosphere The height of the base of the inversion layer from ground surface. MORNING AND AFTERNOON MIXING DEPTH CALCULATIONS  General Characteristics of Stack Plumes Dispersion of pollutants Wind – carries pollution downstream from source Atmospheric turbulence -- causes pollutants to fluctuate from mainstream in vertical and crosswind directions Mechanical & atmospheric heating both present at same time but in varying ratios Affect plume dispersion differently  Plume Types Plume types are important because they help us understand under what conditions there will be higher concentrations of contaminants at ground level.  Looping Plume High degree of convective turbulence Superadiabatic lapse rate -- strong instabilities Associated with clear daytime conditions accompanied by strong solar heating & light winds High probability of high concentrations sporadically at ground level close to stack. Occurs in unstable atmospheric conditions.  Coning Plume Stable with small-scale turbulence Associated with overcast moderate to strong winds Roughly 10° cone Pollutants travel fairly long distances before reaching ground level in significant amounts Occurs in neutral atmospheric conditions  Fanning Plume Occurs under large negative lapse rate Strong inversion at a considerable distance above the stack Extremely stable atmosphere Little turbulence If plume density is similar to air, travels downwind at approximately same elevation  Lofting Plume Favorable in the sense that fewer impacts at ground level. Pollutants go up into environment. They are created when atmospheric conditions are unstable above the plume and stable below.  Fumigation Most dangerous plume: contaminants are all coming down to ground level. They are created when atmospheric conditions are stable above the plume and unstable below. This happens most often after the daylight sun has warmed the atmosphere, which turns a night time fanning plume into fumigation for about a half an hour. References USEPA, 2007. Online literature from www.epa.gov Meteorology and Air Quality Modeling Support for Measurement Projects http://files.harc.edu/Sites/TERC/About/Events/ Other200503/MeteorologyAndAirQuality.pdf Rao, M.N. and Rao, H. V. N., 1993. Air Pollution, Tata Mc-Graw Hill, New Delhi. Murty, B. P., 2004. Environmental Meteorology, I.K. International Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. Nevers, N.D. 2000. Air Pollution Control Engineering, Second Edition, Pub., McGraw Hill, New York. Cheremisinoff, N.P., 2002. Handbook of Air Pollution Prevention and Control, Pub., Butterworth-Heinemann, Elsevier Science, USA.