Development of an advanced atmospheric/transport model for emergency response purposes
Atmospheric transport and diffusion models have been developed for real-time calculations of the location and concentration of toxic or radioactive materials during an accidental release at the Savannah River Site (SRS). These models are based Gaussian distributions and have been incorporated into an automated menu-driven program called the WIND (Weather INformation and Display) system. The WIND system atmospheric models employ certain assumptions that allow the computations of the ground-level concentration of toxic or radioactive materials to be made quickly. Gaussian models, such as PF/PL and 2DPUF, suffer from serious limitations including the inability to represent recirculation of pollutants in complex terrain, the use of one stability class at a given time to represent turbulent mixing over heterogeneous terrain, and the use of a wind field computed at only one height in the atmosphere. These limitations arise because the fundamental conservation relations of the atmosphere have been grossly simplified. Three-dimensional coupled atmospheric-dispersion models are not limited by the over-simplifications of the Gaussian assumption and have been used in the past to predict the transport of pollutants in a variety of atmospheric circulations. The disadvantage of these models is that they require large amounts of computational time; however, technology has progressed enough so that real-time simulations of dispersion may be made. These complex models can be run in an operational mode so that routine forecasts of the wind field and particulate concentration can be made.
- Research Organization:
- Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE; USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-89SR18035
- OSTI ID:
- 5720027
- Report Number(s):
- WSRC-RP-91-577; ON: DE92009627
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
29 ENERGY PLANNING
POLICY AND ECONOMY
58 GEOSCIENCES
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
ATOMIZATION
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS
TOXIC MATERIALS
COORDINATED RESEARCH PROGRAMS
DOSIMETRY
EMERGENCY PLANS
ENVIRONMENTAL TRANSPORT
FLOW MODELS
GAUSSIAN PROCESSES
GENERAL CIRCULATION MODELS
RADIOISOTOPES
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
W CODES
WEATHER
COMPUTER CODES
DISTRIBUTION
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
ISOTOPES
MASS TRANSFER
MATERIALS
RESEARCH PROGRAMS
SIMULATION
540110*
990200 - Mathematics & Computers
290300 - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety
580000 - Geosciences