effects of met data processing in aermod concentrations
DESCRIPTION
The current study evaluates the effect that different parameters used to process meteorological data have on AERMOD concentrations. Specifically, this study evaluates the effect from the use of AERMET processed with; 1-minute wind data collected by the Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) and pre-processed using AERMINUTE, refined National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) station location and anemometer height, surface moisture, and urban/rural options. In this evaluation, one year of meteorological data was processed with nine different sets of input parameters and then used in AERMOD to run a short, medium and tall stack scenario for 1-hour, 24-hour and annual averaging periods. Downwash and terrain effects were not considered in this study. The results indicate that the three stack scenarios are sensitive to the location used for the meteorological station. Anemometer height changes had a small effect on concentrations for all scenarios except for the tall stack scenario which produced a modest increase in concentrations for the annual averaging period. Surface moisture was not found to have a strong effect on the scenarios evaluated. The use of AERMINUTE data resulted in significantly higher concentrations for the 1-hour (85%), 24-hour (81%), and annual (88%) averaging periods. The ice free group station option in AERMINUTE was also evaluated. When using AERMINUTE without specifying that the station is part of the ice free wind group stations, the concentrations obtained for tall stack scenario were lower for the 1-hour (64%), 24-hour (68%), and annual (78%) averaging periods. Finally, when it comes to the urban/rural evaluation, the greatest effect is observed in the medium stack scenario where concentrations double for the 1-hour scenario when using the rural option. However, in the tall stack scenario, significantly lower concentrations were obtained by using the urban parameter for the three averaging periods evaluated. Presented at the 10th Conference of Air Quality Modeling EPA‐Research Triangle Park, NC Campus on March 15, 2012; at the AWMA UMS Dispersion Modeling Workshop on May 15, 2012 and at the Annual AWMA Conference on June 20, 2012.TRANSCRIPT
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EFFECTS OF MET DATA PROCESSING IN AERMOD CONCENTRATIONS2012 A&WMA Conference June 20, 2012
Sergio Guerra, Jared AndersonWenck Associates, Inc.
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Sensitivity Analysis
• Hypothetical point source in Manhattan, KS • Study is based on the processing in AERMET of:
– Integrated surface hourly data (ISHD) – Upper air data and – 1‐minute ASOS data
• Surface station: Manhattan Regional Airport , KS• Upper Air station: Topeka Municipal Airport Station, KS
• Downwash and terrain effects were not considered in this study
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Stack location in Manhattan, Kansas
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Three Modeling Scenarios
Input parameter Short Medium Tall
Emission Source RICE Boiler Power PlantStack height (m) 3 23 168Emission rate (g/s) 1 1 1Exit temperature(degrees K) 640 420.8 325Diameter (m) 0.46 0.76 7.8Exit velocity (m/s) 37.37 8.86 10.9
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Nine sets of Met DataMet data Iterations
Station Location
Anemometer Height (m)
Surface Moisture
Rural/UrbanUse of
AERMINUTEIFW Group
Met Iteration 1 Refined 7.9 Average Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 2 NCDC 7.9 Average Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 3 Refined 7.9 Dry Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 4 Refined 7.9 Wet Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 5 Refined 10 Average Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 6 Refined 7.9 Average Urban No ‐
Met Iteration 7 Refined 7.9 Average Rural Yes Yes
Met Iteration 8 Surrogate 7.9 Average Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 9 Refined 7.9 Average Urban Yes No
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Nine sets of Met DataMet data Iterations
Station Location
Anemometer Height (m)
Surface Moisture
Rural/UrbanUse of
AERMINUTEIFW Group
Met Iteration 1 Refined 7.9 Average Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 2 NCDC 7.9 Average Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 3 Refined 7.9 Dry Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 4 Refined 7.9 Wet Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 5 Refined 10 Average Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 6 Refined 7.9 Average Urban No ‐
Met Iteration 7 Refined 7.9 Average Rural Yes Yes
Met Iteration 8 Surrogate 7.9 Average Urban Yes Yes
Met Iteration 9 Refined 7.9 Average Urban Yes No
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Actual and NCDC Location for the MHK Met Station in Kansas
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Surrogate, Actual, and NCDC Location for the MHK Met Station in Kansas
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Location‐ Short stack scenario
RICE 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 190.7 0.0 69.6 0.0 4.0 0.0
Iteration 2NCDC location 189.3 ‐0.8 68.4 ‐1.7 4.1 2.5
Iteration 8
Surrogate location 163.3 ‐14.4 78.6 12.9 6.6 64.3
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Location‐Medium stack scenario
Medium Stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 29.7 0.0 6.6 0.0 1.1 0.0
Iteration 2NCDC location 29.6 ‐0.6 7.1 7.4 1.2 4.4
Iteration 8
Surrogate location 31.0 4.4 9.6 46.5 1.4 26.9
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Location‐ Tall stack scenario
Tall stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 13.1 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.15 0.0
Iteration 2NCDC location 12.8 ‐2.2 1.9 ‐5.8 0.14 ‐7.2
Iteration 8
Surrogate location 12.0 ‐8.1 1.6 ‐20.1 0.09 ‐36.9
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Surface Moisture and Anemometer height‐ Short Stack Scenario
Short stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 190.7 0.0 69.6 0.0 4.0 0.0
Iteration 3
Dry surface moisture 190.7 0.0 69.6 ‐0.1 4.2 5.5
Iteration 4
Wet surface moisture 190.7 0.0 69.6 ‐0.1 3.9 ‐2.9
Iteration 5
10 m anemometer height 190.9 0.1 66.4 ‐4.7 3.7 ‐6.4
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Surface Moisture and Anemometer height‐Medium Stack Scenario
Medium stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 29.7 0.0 6.6 0.0 1.1 0.0
Iteration 3
Dry surface moisture 30.9 4.1 6.6 ‐0.2 1.1 0.4
Iteration 4
Wet surface moisture 30.1 1.1 6.6 0.0 1.1 ‐0.9
Iteration 5
10 m anemometer height 29.7 ‐0.2 6.6 ‐0.1 1.1 1.4
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Surface Moisture and Anemometer height‐ Tall Stack Scenario
Tall stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 13.1 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.15 0.0
Iteration 3
Dry surface moisture 13.1 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.15 1.0
Iteration 4
Wet surface moisture 13.1 0.0 2.0 0.1 0.15 ‐0.7
Iteration 5
10 m anemometer height 13.1 6.2 2.0 ‐0.4 0.16 10.2
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Rural vs Urban‐Short Stack Scenario
Short stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 190.7 0.0 69.6 0.0 4.0 0.0
Iteration 7 Rural 201.8 5.8 74.2 6.6 4.0 0.7
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Rural vs Urban‐Medium Stack Scenario
Medium stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 29.7 0.0 6.6 0.0 1.1 0.0
Iteration 7Rural 60.8 104.4 7.8 18.5 1.0 ‐9.9
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Rural vs Urban‐ Tall Stack Scenario
Tall stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 13.1 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.15 0.0
Iteration 7Rural 0.8 ‐94.0 0.1 ‐94.4 0.01 ‐92.5
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Anemometer
Sonic Cup and vane
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AERMINUTE
• Non‐regulatory component of AERMOD• Light wind conditions may be controlling factor in some cases due to limited dilution
• Concentrations not calculated in AERMOD for hours with calm or missing meteorological data
• Purpose of AERMINUTE is not to increase conservatism but to “reclaim” data that was lost due to METAR reporting in NWS data
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Met Data Iterations
AERMINUTE IFWTotal
Observations
Calm Winds (%)
Missing Winds (%)
Iterations 1,2,3,4,5,7,8 Yes Yes 8760
80 (0.9%)
45 (0.5%)
Iteration 6 No ‐ 87602316 (26%)
349 (4%)
Iteration 9 Yes No 87601303 (15%)
45 (0.5%)
Number and Percent of Calm and Missing Wind Data for Met Data Iterations
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Comparison AERMINUTE
AERMINUTE No AERMINUTE
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Comparison IFWGROUP
AERMINUTE No IFW GROUP
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AERMINUTE and IFWGROUP‐Short Stack Scenario
Short stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 190.7 0.0 69.6 0.0 4.0 0.0
Iteration 6
No AERMINUTE 188.5 ‐1.1 51.4 ‐26.2 5.2 30.2
Iteration 9
AERMINUTE but no IFW
group 190.7 0.0 69.6 0.0 4.6 14.3
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AERMINUTE and IFWGROUP‐Medium Stack Scenario
Medium stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 29.7 0.0 6.6 0.0 1.1 0.0
Iteration 6
No AERMINUTE 28.8 ‐3.2 7.3 11.1 1.2 6.7
Iteration 9
AERMINUTE but no IFW
group 29.7 0.0 7.4 13.3 1.2 2.1
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AERMINUTE and IFWGROUP‐Tall Stack Scenario
Tall stack 1‐hr 24‐hr Annual
Met Data Used
Description g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
g/m3 Percent Difference
Iteration 1 Control 13.1 0.0 2.0 0.0 0.15 0.0
Iteration 6
No AERMINUTE 1.9 ‐85.4 0.4 ‐80.9 0.02 ‐88.4
Iteration 9
AERMINUTE but no IFW
group 4.7 ‐64.2 0.6 ‐67.6 0.03 ‐77.9
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Summary
• Met station location had modest effect on short and tall stack scenarios.
• Surface roughness had the greatest effect on tall stack scenario.
• Anemometer height had a modest effect on concentrations.
• Surface moisture did not have a significant effect.• For tall stacks, use of AERMINUTE data resulted in
significantly higher concentrations.• For tall stacks, urban/rural classification has a significant
effect on concentrations.