Dr R R Burton
Institute for Atmospheric Science
School of Earth and Environment (Environment)
ralph@env.leeds.ac.uk
To give an introduction to the theory of atmospheric
dispersion and to describe the basic principles of atmospheric dispersion
modelling.
School of Earth and Environment (Environment)
ralph@env.leeds.ac.uk
To give an introduction to the theory of atmospheric
dispersion and to describe the basic principles of atmospheric dispersion
modelling.
To give an introduction to the theory of atmospheric dispersion and to describe the basic principles of atmospheric dispersion modelling.
Course Notes
The Atmospheric Dispersion course notes are available here: [ps] [pdf]
Timetable
Lectures take place on Tuesdays at 12:00-1300 and Fridays at 14:00-15:00. There will be 10 lectures and 2 tutorials altogether.
Syllabus
1. Scalar Transport in the Atmosphere
2. Transport Processes
3. The Atmospheric Boundary Layer
4. Continuous Point Sources of Pollutant
5. Dispersion in Real Environments
6. Gaussian Plumes from High Chimneys
7. Deposition
8. Types of Atmospheric Dispersion Models
9. Chemical Reaction of Atmospheric Pollutants
10. Numerical Schemes
Assessment
You must do Assignments 1 and 2. For Assignment 2, there is a choice between an essay-type question and a numerical-modelling type question.
Assignment 1 (PDF)
Assignment 2 (PDF)
For Assignment 1 you will need Naik's paper.
To see how to create contour plots using excel, see this worked example (which includes an example of the use of FORTRAN format statements) or check the official Microsoft pages.
Useful/Interesting Links
- Check what are the major sources of pollutant near where you live by clicking here.
- Current Air Quality in Leeds from the DEFRA monitoring station in Leeds centre.
Institutes and Agencies
- The UK Met Office Environment Services.
- The European Environment Agency.
- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- The U.K National Air Quality Information Archive.
- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has lots of documents available for download.
Software
- An indication of the huge numbers of atmospheric dispersion models can be obtained from Google directory.
- Lakes Environmental are suppliers of commercial Air Dispersion
Modelling software.
Reference
- The European Environment Agency has an article about urban dispersion models here.
- Lots of information on dispersion models at the Good Practice Guide for Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling from the New Zealand Ministry for the Environment
- Mathematics reference pages.
- The Encyclopedia of the Atmospheric Environment has brief articles on relevant subjects.
- For a glossary of meteorological terms see the comprehensive American Meteorological Society Glossary.
- An article about atmospheric stability can be found here.
- A large number of links related to turbulence can be found here.
- Roger Brugge's homepage contains a vast number of links related to meteorology.
- A tutorial on the equations representing chemical reactions can be found here.
- A glossary of terms relating to ozone depletion and CFCs can be found at the US EPA.
- There is lots of information available on atmospheric pollutants to be found here.
Historical Pollution episodes
- An article about the London smog disaster of 1952 can be found here.
- The effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster can be found at the French Nuclear Energy Agency.
- The International Atomic Energy Agency models the radiation released at Chernobyl.
- The Mount Pinatubo volcanic eruption is described at the U.S. Geological Survey
Local Air Quality