Pacific Northwest Laboratory annual report for 1974 to the USAEC Division of Biomedical and Environmental Research. Part III. Atmospheric sciences

Abstract

PREFACEThe Annual R e p o r t f o r 1974 t o t h e U.S. Atomic E n e r g y C o m m i s s i o n ' s D i v i s i o n o f B i o m e d i c a l a n d E n v i r o n m e n t a l R e s e a r c h i s o r g a n i z e d b y m a j o r p r o g r a m c a t eg o r i e s a c c o r d i n g t o o u r s c h e d u l e -1 8 9 s u b m i s s i o n s . Each p a r t i s d i r e c t e d t oward a p a r t i c u l a r DBER R e s e a r c h a n d Development Program: P a r t 1 t o B i o m e d i c a l P r o g r a m s , P a r t s 2 a n d 3 t o E n v i r o n m e n t a l P r o g r a m s , a n d P a r t 4 t o P h y s i c a l and T e c h n o l o g i c a l P r o g r a m s .Each p a r t o f t h e Annual R e p o r t c o m p r i s e s p r o j e c t r e p o r t s a u t h o r e d by s c i e n t i s t s f r o m s e v e r a l r e s e a r c h d e p a r t m e n t s , r e f l e c t i n g t h e i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y n a t u r e o f t h e r e s e a r c h e f f o r t .The A n n u a l R e p o r t c o ns i s t s o f f o u r p a r t s : P a r t 1 B i o m e d i c a l S c i e n c e s P a r t 2 E c o l o g i c a l S c i e n c e s P a r t 3 A t m o s p h e r i c S c i e n c e s P a r t 4 P h y s i c a l and A n a l y t i c a l S c i e n c e s R e p o r t s p r e v i o u s l y i s s u e d a r e a s f o l l o w s :Annual R e p o r t f o r 1 9 5 1 1 9 5 2 1 9 5 3 1954 1 9 5 5 1 9 5 6 1957 1 9 5 8 1 9 5 9 1 9 6 0 1 9 6 1 1962 1 9 6 3 1 9 6 4 1 9 6 5 1 9 6 6 1967 1968 1 9 6 9 1970 1 9 7 1 1 9 7 2 1 9 7 3 1 9 7 4Program Manager: R . With expanding energy development and use, serious associated air pollutant levels are anticipated on local and regional scales, exceeding ambient air quality standards for periods of hours to days depending on their distribution and accumulation in the atmosphere. Consequently, further understanding of atmospheric transport processes in those time and space scales producing the pollutants is needed. This knowledge is the basis on which assessment methodologies must be developed and applied.The most urgent air pollution problems must be identified and continually reassessed to set priorities for more detailed investigations. To accomplish this, first of all pollutant distributions in the atmosphere are being measured in regions of potentially significant pollution; as well as in "background" regions, to evaluate hemispheric levels of both fossil fuel effluents and nuclear contaminants. The detailed airflow and dispersion behavior of pollutants distributed locally as well as over several states is being investigated to determine dependence on meteorological conditions and terrain features. Also under investigation are the significant alterations of physical and chemical characteristics of pollutants which occur during transport, varying as a function of atmospheric conditions. These modifications can strongly influence the effectiveness of pollutant removal from the atmosphere as well as the seriousness of the ultimate health or environmental impact. The removal of the pollutants by wet means in clouds and rain, and by dry means throu...