An evaluation of the wind erosion module in DUSTRAN

Shaw, W. J.; Allwine, K.J.; Fritz, Bradley G.; Rutz, Frederick C.; Rishel, Jeremy P.; Chapman, Elaine G.

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.11.022

Cited by 107 publications

(108 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…This choice is in agreement with most previous studies in the literature, where dust storms are simulated by grid models (Liu et al, 2003;Nickovic et al, 2001;Shaw et al, 2008;Song et al, 2001;Spyrou et al, 2010) and the dust is initially mixed in the first grid layer.…”

Section: Aermod Inputssupporting

confidence: 78%

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Dispersion modeling of particulate matter containing hexavalent chromium during high winds in southern Iraq

Zannetti¹,

Daly²,

Freedman

2015

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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The aim of this paper is to describe a scientific methodology (i.e., the combination of different well-established modeling techniques) and its application to a real case scenario of contaminated dust emissions in high winds. This scenario addresses potential air pollution problems at the water treatment plant (WTP) at Qarmat-Ali, Basra, Iraq, during 2003. Workplace practices at the WTP before 2003 resulted in sodium dichromate contamination in the area. Looting at the site in early 2003 also contributed to this contamination. Individuals who were assigned to provide security at the site in 2003 have claimed adverse health effects caused by exposure to dust containing hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)]. This report presents our modeling study with respect to these claims in relation to (1) amount of Cr(VI) present in the soil, (2) wind erosion episodes, and (3) possible long-term (e.g., annual average) Cr(VI) concentrations inhaled by different people while at the site. Our modeling approach included (1) the analysis of Cr(VI) soil measurements to assess the degree of contamination in different areas of the plant at different times; (2) the use of DUSTRAN model equations to calculate the emission rate of particulate matter (PM) less than 10 µm in diameter (PM 10 ) during high-wind episodes; (3) the use of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) AERMOD modeling system to estimate Cr(VI) concentrations at the site; and (4) the calculation of modeling results in the form of both contour lines of average Cr(VI) concentrations at the site, and specific concentration values for selected individuals, based upon their recollection of their visits to the site.Implications: The assessment of individual exposure to contaminated dust during high-wind episodes requires a combination of modeling tools and the calculation of concentration impacts at precise locations and times. We have combined several state-of-the art simulation algorithms to provide a credible methodology for assessing individual exposure. The methodology has been applied to an actual case where exposure was claimed by individuals.

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Section: Aermod Inputssupporting

confidence: 78%

“…DUSTRAN is a dust emission and transport model developed for the U.S. Department of Energy (Shaw et al, 2008). In DUSTRAN, dust is emitted from a source area if the wind speed exceeds a threshold value, which depends on the soil moisture, soil composition, and the surface roughness.…”

Section: Calculation Of the Pm 10 Emission Ratementioning

confidence: 99%

Dispersion modeling of particulate matter containing hexavalent chromium during high winds in southern Iraq

Zannetti¹,

Daly²,

Freedman

2015

Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association

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“…The domain-wide performance statistics for variables predicted by NONFBIT1 and FBES3 are overall similar, noticeable changes occur for particles, due to different dust model implementations. Indeed, NONFBSIT1 included a modified Shaw et al (2008) dust module for correcting the size distribution into MOSAIC aerosols with 4 bins. Moreover, a new dust flux constant and a desert dust improvement for spurious fluxes was introduced in the baseline simulation.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensitivity of feedback effects in CBMZ/MOSAIC chemical mechanism

José

Pérez

Balzarini

et al. 2015

Atmospheric Environment

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a bstr a ctTo investigate the impact of the aerosol effects on meteorological variables and pollutant concentrations two simulations with the WRF-Chem model have been performed over Europe for year 2010. We have performed a baseline simulation without any feedback effects and a second simulation including the direct as well as the indirect aerosol effect. The paper describes the full configuration of the model, the simulation design, special impacts and evaluation. Although low aerosol particle concentrations are detected, the inclusion of the feedback effects results in an increase of solar radiation at the surface over cloudy areas (North-West, including the Atlantic) and decrease over more sunny locations (SouthEast). Aerosol effects produce an increase of the water vapor and decrease the planet boundary layer height over the whole domain except in the Sahara area, where the maximum particle concentrations are detected. Significant ozone concentrations are found over the Mediterranean area. Simulated feedback effects between aerosol concentrations and meteorological variables and on pollutant distributions strongly depend on the aerosol concentrations and the clouds. Further investigations are necessary with higher aerosol particle concentrations. WRF-Chem variables are evaluated using available hourly ob-servations in terms of performance statistics. Standardized observations from the ENSEMBLE system webinterface were used. The research was developed under the second phase of Air Quality Model Evaluation International Initiative (AQMEII). WRF-Chem demonstrates its capability in capturing tem-poral and spatial variations of the major meteorological variables and pollutants, except the wind speed over complex terrain. The wind speed bias may affect the accuracy in the chemical predictions (NO2, SO2). The analysis of the correlations between simulated data sets and observational data sets indicates that the simulation with aerosol effects performs slightly better. These results indicate potential importance of the aerosol feedback effects and an urgent need to further improve the representations in current atmospheric models to reduce uncertainties at all scales.

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“…Biogenic emissions were calculated using the MEGAN v2.04 model. Dust emissions were calculated interactively during the model simulation based on grid cell wind speed, moisture, and other relevant conditions using the dust module in WRF-Chem based on Shaw et al (2008) (Zhao et al, 2010). Note that because the dust and biogenic emissions are determined interactively during the model simulation, the total mass of emitted dust differs between domains, whereas the mass of other emissions is consistent between the three grids for equivalent areas.…”

Section: Experiments Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

An investigation of the sub-grid variability of trace gases and aerosols for global climate modeling

2010

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Abstract.One fundamental property and limitation of grid based models is their inability to identify spatial details smaller than the grid cell size. While decades of work have gone into developing sub-grid treatments for clouds and land surface processes in climate models, the quantitative understanding of sub-grid processes and variability for aerosols and their precursors is much poorer. In this study, WRFChem is used to simulate the trace gases and aerosols over central Mexico during the 2006 MILAGRO field campaign, with multiple spatial resolutions and emission/terrain scenarios. Our analysis focuses on quantifying the sub-grid variability (SGV) of trace gases and aerosols within a typical global climate model grid cell, i.e. 75 × 75 km 2 .Our results suggest that a simulation with 3-km horizontal grid spacing adequately reproduces the overall transport and mixing of trace gases and aerosols downwind of Mexico City, while 75-km horizontal grid spacing is insufficient to represent local emission and terrain-induced flows along the mountain ridge, subsequently affecting the transport and mixing of plumes from nearby sources. Therefore, the coarse model grid cell average may not correctly represent aerosol properties measured over polluted areas. Probability density functions (PDFs) for trace gases and aerosols show that secondary trace gases and aerosols, such as O 3 , sulfate, ammonium, and nitrate, are more likely to have a relatively uniform probability distribution (i.e. smaller SGV) over a narrow range of concentration values. Mostly inert and longlived trace gases and aerosols, such as CO and BC, are more likely to have broad and skewed distributions (i.e. larger SGV) over polluted regions. Over remote areas, all trace gases and aerosols are more uniformly distributed compared to polluted areas. Both CO and O 3 SGV vertical profiles are nearly constant within the PBL during daytime, indicatingCorrespondence to: Y. Qian (yun.qian@pnl.gov) that trace gases are very efficiently transported and mixed vertically by turbulence. But, simulated horizontal variability indicates that trace gases and aerosols are not well mixed horizontally in the PBL. During nighttime the SGV for trace gases is maximum at the surface, and quickly decreases with height. Unlike the trace gases, the SGV of BC and secondary aerosols reaches a maximum at the PBL top during the day. The SGV decreases with distance away from the polluted urban area, has a more rapid decrease for long-lived trace gases and aerosols than for secondary ones, and is greater during daytime than nighttime.The SGV of trace gases and aerosols is generally larger than for meteorological quantities. Emissions can account for up to 50% of the SGV over urban areas such as Mexico City during daytime for less-reactive trace gases and aerosols, such as CO and BC. The impact of emission spatial variability on SGV decays with altitude in the PBL and is insignificant in the free troposphere. The emission variability affects SGV more significantly during daytime (rather t...

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An evaluation of the wind erosion module in DUSTRAN

Cited by 107 publications

References 34 publications

Dispersion modeling of particulate matter containing hexavalent chromium during high winds in southern Iraq

Dispersion modeling of particulate matter containing hexavalent chromium during high winds in southern Iraq

Sensitivity of feedback effects in CBMZ/MOSAIC chemical mechanism

An investigation of the sub-grid variability of trace gases and aerosols for global climate modeling

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