Estimation of the Intensity of the Successive Instantaneous Emissions Released by an Air Pollution Point Source

Abstract

A new method for assessing the intensity of successive instantaneous emissions of an air pollutant from a point source is presented. The intensity parameters were obtained using a time series of the pollutant concentration detected at a monitoring site. A well-posed atmospheric dispersion model is used to estimate the transport of the pollutant from the source. The parameter estimation method is formulated as an optimization problem. The optimal point determines the intensity of instantaneous emissions and is calculated as the solution of a positive system of linear equations. Particular solutions of the dispersion model are used to adjust the matrix and the rightside of the linear system. The capabilities of the parameter estimation method are demonstrated using one-dimensional synthetic numerical examples.