Meteorological Aspects of Air pollutant Dispersion

 Meteorology is the science of the atmosphere, the

atmosphere is the media into which all air pollution is
emitted.

 Atmospheric processes such as the movement of air

(wind) and the exchange of heat dictate the fate of
pollutants as they go through the stages of;

 Transport,

 Dispersion,

 Transformation and

 Removal.
 Air pollution meteorology
 Air pollution meteorology is the study of how these
atmospheric processes affect the fate of air pollutants.

 Understanding air pollution meteorology and its

influence in pollutant dispersion is essential in air
quality planning activities and

 used to manage and control the release of pollutants into

the ambient air

 it helps ensure that ambient pollutant concentrations

comply with ambient air quality standards
 Heat Balance of the Atmosphere

 The energy expended in

virtually all atmospheric
processes is originally
derived from the sun
 This energy is transferred by
radiation of heat in the form
of electromagnetic waves
 solar radn striking the earth
generally has a wavelength
between 0.29 and 2.5 μm.
 insolation
 amount of incoming solar radiation received at a
particular time and location in the earth’s
atmosphere system is called insolation
Insolation is governed by four factors:
 Solar constant

 Transparency of the atmosphere

 Daily sunlight duration
 Angle at which the sun's rays strike the earth
 Solar constant
 The solar constant is the average amount of radiation
received at a point, perpendicular to the sun's rays, that is
located outside the earth's atmosphere
 Transparency of the atmosphere, duration of daylight,
and the angle are much more important in influencing
the amount of insolation actually received, which in turn
influences the weather
Transparency
 Different atmospheric constituents absorb or reflect
energy in different ways and in varying amounts.
 Transparency
 Transparency of
the atmosphere
refers to how much
radiation
penetrates the
atmosphere and
 The general reflectivity of the various
reaches the earth's surfaces of the earth is referred to as
surface without the albedo. Albedo is defined as the
being depleted percentage of incoming solar energy
that is reflected back to space
 Daylight Duration
 the longer the period
of sunlight, the greater
the total possible
insolation
 Daylight duration
varies with latitude
and the seasons.
 At the equator, day and
night are always equal.

 In the polar- regions, the daylight period reaches a maximum

of twenty-four hours in summer and a minimum of zero hours
in winter
 Angle of Rays
 The angle at which the sun's
rays strike the earth varies as
the sun "shifts" back and
forth across the equator
 flat surface perpendicular to
an incoming vertical sun ray
receives the largest amount At solar noon, the intensity
of insolation, of insolation is greatest.

 areas at which the sun's rays In the morning and

are oblique receive less evening hours, the amount

insolation of insolation is small.

 Differential Heating
 extreme temperature differences at the equator and
the poles, the earth-atmosphere system resembles a
giant or massive or enormous "heat engine."
 This global "heat engine" influences the major
atmospheric circulation patterns as warm air is
transferred to cooler areas.
 Different parts of the earth receiving d/t amounts of
insolation account for much of this heat imbalance
 different earth surfaces absorb heat energy at different
rates
 Differential Heating
 For example, land masses absorb and store heat
differently than water masses
 dry surfaces heat and cool faster than moist surfaces
 The property of different surfaces which causes them to
heat and cool at different rates is referred to as differential
heating.
 Absorption of heat energy from the sun is confined to a
shallow layer of land surface.
 Consequently, land surfaces heat rapidly during the day
and cool quickly at night
 Transport of Heat
 In addition to radiation, heat is transferred by conduction,
convection, and advection.
 Conduction , heat is transferred through matter without
the transfer of matter itself,
 Heat transfer by convection occurs when matter is in
motion .
 Air that is warmed by a heated land surface (by conduction)
will rise because it is lighter than the surrounding air.
 advection denote heat transfer that occurs mainly by
horizontal motion rather than by vertical movement of air
(convection).
 Atmospheric Circulation
 Air moves in an attempt to equalize imbalances in pressure
that result from differential heating of the earth's surface.
Air Pressure
 Air molecules are moving around in all directions at very
high speeds.
 The speed actually depends on the temperature of the gas.
 It is a function of the number of air molecules in a given
volume and the speed at which they are moving.
 When air is confined within a certain boundary, heating the
air increases its pressure and cooling the air decreases its
pressure
 Atmospheric Circulation

 Forcing air into a

smaller space
increases air
pressure
 while allowing it
to expand into a
Figure Isobars around areas of low and high pressure
larger space
 The roughly concentric circles around the
reduces air
areas of highest and lowest pressure are
pressure
called isobars, which are lines of equal
pressure.
 Atmospheric Circulation
Wind
 Wind is the basic element in the general circulation of the
atmosphere.
 Winds are always named by the direction from which they
blow.
example "north wind" is a wind blowing from the north
toward the south and "westerly wind" blows from west to
east.
 Wind speed increases rapidly with height above the
ground level, as frictional drag decreases.
 Atmospheric Circulation
 wind gustiness is caused by irregularities of the surface,
which create eddies.
 Larger irregularities are caused by convection or vertical
transport of heat.
 These and other forms of turbulence contribute to the
movement of heat, moisture, and dust into the air aloft
Coriolis Forces (apparent force of earth’s rotation)
 a force used to describe the effect of earth’s rotation on
moving object
 If the earth did not rotate, air would move directly from high
pressure toward low pressure. However, earth does rotate,
cause for a deflection of air.
 Atmospheric Circulation
 The Coriolis force
causes this
deflection to the
right in the
Northern
Hemisphere and
to the left in the
Southern
Deflection of large-scale winds in the
Hemisphere.
Northern and Southern Hemispheres
 The effect of this deflecting force is to make the wind
seem to change direction on earth
 Atmospheric Circulation
Pressure Gradient Force
 Wind will flow from areas of high pressure to low pressure.
 The pressure equalizing force that attempts to move air
from high pressure to low pressure is called the pressure
gradient force (PGF)
 The pressure gradient is the rate and direction of pressure
change
 Gradients are steep where isobars are closely spaced.
 The wind will move faster across steep gradients.
 Winds are weaker where the isobars are farther apart
because the slope between them is not as steep,
 Atmospheric Circulation
 Also wind direction
at the surface (solid
lines) differs from
wind direction high
above the earth
(dotted lines)
despite the same
pressure gradient
forces operating due
to frictional forces
 Atmospheric Circulation
Friction
 Friction, the third major force affecting the wind, comes into
play near the earth's surface and continues to be a factor up to
altitudes of about 500 to 1000 m
 This section of the atmosphere is referred to as the Planetary
or Atmospheric Boundary Layer
 Above this layer, friction no longer influences the wind.
 The effect of friction on the wind increases as the wind
approaches the earth's surface
 Also, the rougher surface increase the frictional influence
for example, air flow over an urban area encounters more
friction than air flowing over a large body of water.
 General Circulation
 The general circulation represents the average air flow
around the world.
 The driving force behind general circulation is the
uneven heating of the earth's surface.
 Horizontal temperature variations in the atmosphere,
caused by unequal heating, lead to pressure
differences that drive atmospheric circulation
 The air at the equator would be warm and buoyant
and would rise due to convection
 General Circulation
 As the warm equatorial air rises, thunderstorms develop
which release more heat, causing the air to continue to
rise until it reaches the upper atmosphere.
 At this point, the air would begin to move toward the
polar-regions, cooling as it traveled.
 At the poles, the dense cold air would sink to the surface
and flow back toward the equator.
 In the NH, the air flow near the surface would always be
out of the north because the cooler air from the North
Pole would replace the warm air ascending at the
equator
 General Circulation

 The rotation of the

earth is a fact that
changes this
relatively simple air
flow into a very
complex situation.

Figure for Hypothetical planetary air circulations for non-

rotating Earth of uniform surface
 General Circulation
 Because of the Coriolis effect, the winds blow from the
northeast in the NH and from the southeast in the SH.
 The converge around the equator in a region called the
Inter-tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ)
 This converging equatorial air heats and rises,
continuing the cycle.
 Instead of moving toward the equator, some surface air
at the 30 degree latitudes moves toward the poles.
 The Coriolis force deflects these winds to the east in both
hemispheres.
 General Circulation

Figure General atmospheric circulation cells

 Air Masses
 Air masses are macroscale phenomena, covering hundreds
of thousands of square kilometers and extending upward
for thousands of meters
 These are relatively homogeneous volumes of air with
regards to temperature and moisture, and acquire the
characteristics of the region over which they form and
travel
 Air masses are classified as maritime (influenced by the
sea) or continental according to their origin over ocean or
land, and
 arctic, polar, or tropical depending on latitude of origin
 Air Masses

 Temperature is a basic property of air masses.

 Arctic air masses are the coldest and

 tropical air masses are the warmest.

 Moisture is the second basic property in an air mass.

 atmospheric moisture is a factor in humidity,

cloudiness, precipitation, and visibility,

 Front
 The boundary between air masses with different
characteristics is referred to as a front.
 Front- interface between differing air masses:
Four frontal patterns

 warm,

 cold,

 occluded, and

 stationary can be formed by air of different temperatures

 Cold Front
 The cold front is a
transition zone
between warm and
cold air
 Forms when a cold
air mass pushes
warm air mass,
 forcing the warm air
to rise and cold, dry
air replaces warm,
moist air
 warm Front

 Warm, moist air

replaces cold,

dry air

 moist, warm air

mass slides up

and over a cold

air mass
 Stationary front

 Forms when warm and cold

air meet and neither air mass
has the force to move the
other. They remain stationary
 The abbreviations cP and mT
stand for continental Polar
and maritime Tropical air
masses.
 A stationary front can cause
bad weather conditions that
persist for several days.
 Occluded Front
 Forms when a warm air
mass gets caught between
two cold air masses warm
occlusion or
 Form when a cold front
catches up to a warm front
cold occlusion)
 The warm air mass rises as
the cool air masses push
 Topographical Influences
 The physical characteristics of the earth's surface are
referred to as terrain features or topography.
 Topographical features influence earth and its
surrounding air heat up, and also affect the way air flows.
These features can be grouped into four categories:

 flat,

 mountain/valley,

 land/water, and

 urban
 Flat Terrain

 Although very little of

the earth's surface is
completely flat,
Included oceans,
 Turbulence in the wind
over flat terrain is
limited
 Mountain/Valley
 All air pollution
dispersion very different
from, and much more
complicated than, that
over flat ground
 Mechanical turbulence
over mountain/valley
terrain is invariably
connected to the size,
shape, and orientation of
the features.
 Mountain/Valley
 Mountain/valleys heat is unevenly because of the sun's motion
across the sky

 In the morning, one side of a mountain or valley is lit and heated

by the sun. The other side is still dark and cool.
 Air rises on the lighted side and descends on the dark side.
 At midday both sides are "seen" by the sun and are heated. The
late afternoon situation is similar to the morning
 Land/Water

 land and water not only exhibit different roughness

characteristics but different heating properties.
 air flow and thus plume dispersion and transport can be
very difficult to predict.
 Land and objects on it will heat and cool relatively
quickly. However, water heats and cools relatively slowly.
 Water temperatures do not vary much from day-to-day or
from week-to-week.
 On the other hand, land surfaces warm quickly, causing
the adjacent air to heat up, become less dense, and rise.
 Land/Water
 The cooler air over the water is
drawn inland and becomes the
well- known sea breeze

 At night, the air over the

land cools rapidly ,which
causes the land temp.to fall Sea breezes due to differential heating
faster than that of the
adjacent water body.
 This creates a return flow
called the land breeze

Land breezes due to differential heating

 Urban

 Urban areas have added roughness features due to the

presence of man-made elements.
 Building materials such as brick and concrete absorb and
hold heat more efficiently than soil and vegetation found
in rural areas.
 After the sun sets, the urban area continues to radiate
heat from buildings, paved surfaces, etc.
 Air warmed by this urban complex rises to create a dome
over the city. It is called the heat island effect.
 The city emits heat all night
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