PARTPUFF - a Lagrangian particle-puff approach for plume dispersion modeling applications

Abstract

The particle-puff (PARTPUFF) method proposed here uses a Gaussian puff solution in the horizontal directions and a particle solution for the vertical coordinate. This method allows a particle/puff to influence more than one horizontal grid point and so the total number of particles needed for a model run is reduced. The dispersion simulation still accounts for height-varying values of winds and turbulence in the same way as conventional particle models. The approach developed here has been verified by comparing results with a full particle model for the skewed convective boundary layer, and in complex terrain including a land-sea interface and a sinusoidal hill. The results from the PARTPUFF approach agree well with those from the full particle model. Particle numbers, memory, and computer time requirements are reduced by two orders of magnitude, making it feasible to use the model in a regulatory framework. -from Author