Lecture Three

Atmospheric Dispersion
and Air Quality Monitoring

Learning
Objectives
for Today

Educational Objectives

What is Atmospheric Dispersion

Factors affecting atmospheric dispersion and
transport Wind and atmospheric stability.
Air quality monitoring

The atmosphere as a sink

Volcanoes and pollutants from other natural
sources
Pollutants from human activities
From the discovery of the utility of fire to the
present

Imperfect sink
Limited ability to disperse and remove
pollutants
Affected by atmospheric motion phenomena
3

The atmosphere as a sink

Medium for chemical reactions that may
remove pollutants
Buildup of long lived pollutants

Methane
Nitrous oxide
Carbon dioxide
Halocarbons

Atmospheric Dispersion and

Transport
Dispersion mixing of pollutants with air
Transport - air motions carry pollutants from
one region of the atmosphere to another

Atmospheric Dispersion
Air pollutants are dispersed in the
atmosphere in both horizontal and vertical
directions.
Winds and the atmospheric stability are
important factors on the degree of
dispersion.
6

Dispersion and transport

Pollutants released into planetary boundary
layer(PBL)
Subject to fluxes of heat and water vapor
One to 2 km thick

Air above the PBL is the free troposphere

Is relatively stable

Dispersion and transport

Atmospheric/environmental conditions that
affect pollutant concentrations

Horizontal wind
Turbulence
Topography
Atmospheric stability
Inversions

Atmospheric Dispersion
If emission is constant from a source, the
concentration is an inverse function of the
wind speed. (Thus doubling wind speed will halve the
pollutant concentration.)

Wind direction is also important as it affects

the concentration of pollutant at downwind
location.
9

Wind
Characterized by speed and direction
Affected by:
Horizontal pressure gradients
Horizontal temperature gradients
Friction related to surface roughness

10

Atmospheric Dispersion and

Transport
Horizontal wind speed is affected by
friction which is proportional to surface
roughness

11

Atmospheric stability
Vertical temperature gradients
Described as lapse rates
Normally temperature decreases with height

12

Super-adiabatic lapse rates

Temperature decreases are greater than 10
o
C/ kilometer (-1C/100 meters)
Occur on sunny days
Characterized by intense vertical mixing
Excellent dispersion conditions
The atmosphere is unstable
13

Neutral lapse rates

Temperature decreases are similar to the
adiabatic lapse rate (-1C/100 meters)
Results from:
Cloudy conditions
Elevated wind speeds
Day/night transitions

Describes good dispersion conditions

14

Isothermal lapse rates

Characterized by no temperature change
with height
Atmosphere is somewhat stable
Dispersion conditions are moderate

15

Inversion lapse rates

Characterized by increasing temperature
with height
May occur at night
Associated with high-pressure systems
Dispersion conditions are poor
The atmosphere is stable
16

Effects of topography
Intensify nocturnal inversions in river
valleys
Reduces dispersion along coastal areas on
calm days
Results from lake/sea/land breezes

Restricts horizontal air flows

May affect microscale air flow around point
sources
17

Topography related wind

18Hall
Adapted from The Atmosphere, Eighth edition, by F. Lutgens and Tarbuck, Prentice

Mountain-valley wind

Adapted from The Atmosphere, Eighth edition, by F. Lutgens and Tarbuck, Prentice Hall

19

Dispersion from point sources

Pollutants emitted in plume form
Plume history depends on:
Physical/chemical nature of pollutants
Meteorological factors
Location of source relative to potential
obstructions
Topography

20

Plume rise and transport

Affected by:
Physical stack height (h)
Plume rise (h)
The effective stack height (H = h + h)

21

Dispersion of a point source

22

Plume rise and transport

Effective stack height
Dispersion enhanced with increasing height
Can be increased by building taller stacks
Higher wind speed can decrease effective stack
height
Can be increased by higher stack gas temperatures
and exit velocity

23

Long range transport

Large-scale wind can transport pollution to a long
distance (hundreds/thousands of miles).
Transport of Asian dusts to North America in April 2001
Westerly winds transport Asia pollution across the Pacific
Ocean
Transport of air pollution from the Pearl River Delta to
Hong Kong
24

Results from the RAMS model for March 27th and 29th 1997. The
pink cloud shows the region with the tracer concentration (SO2)
greater than 500 pptv.

25

Air-quality monitoring
to determine compliance status relative to air quality
standards/objectives
to determine baseline levels before control programs

to determine progress toward compliance after control

programs

Others uses: epidemiological studies, long-term trend,

atmospheric research etc.

Aspects of air-quality monitoring

Sampling: bring air sample to collection medium
or a sensor
consideration: enough materials collected or
enough sensitivity for a sensor
Sampling train may include a vacuum pump, flow
regulator, and a collecting device or a sensing unit.
Sampling methods: static, grab, intermittent, and
continuous

Sampling principles
Absorption (dissolve sample air into a liquid)
e.g., SO2

Adsorption (collect sample on a solid surface)

e.g., air toxic

Condensation (freeze out sample)

e.g., hydrocarbon

Analysis methods
Wet chemistry
Ultraviolet absorption
absorption of UV, O3

Infrared
absorption of infrared light, CO, CO2

Chemiluminescence
emission of light a as result of chemical reactions, e.g., NO

Electrochemistry
electric current from chemical reactions, e.g., ozonesonde sensor

Chromatography
mainly used for separation and detection of organic compounds.
The instrument is mainly used in laboratory.

O3 analysis method (UV absorption)

I=Io exp(-a[O3])

CO analysis method (Infrared)

SO2 analysis method (UV fluorescence)

SO2 + hv (214 nm)->SO2*
SO2* -> SO2 + hv (340 nm)

NOx analysis method (Chemiluminescence)

NO + O3 -> NO2*
NO2* -> NO2 +hr

Particulate Matter (PM)

-collect particles on a filter medium
Hi-Vol sampler
Paper tape sampler
Size selective sampler

Calibration and Quality Assurance

Calibration- measured signal are compared against
standard (known) values.
Standards:
permeation tube
gas bottles
UV ozone generator

Zero air: pollutant free air

Continuous gas analyzer- calibration involves the

use of gas mixture and dynamic calibration
system.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic

University Research

The location of the Tai O Site in the Pearl River delta

Guangzhou

Macau

Hong Kong

Tai O

Measurement

Bscat

Catalyst Box
Inlet

Neph

Inlet

Inlet

PM2.5

IMPROVE

Inlet

Roof Top
NO

O3
CO

NOy

42S
49
Bap

M300
VOC

SO2

Manifold

43S
VOC
Canister

PSAP

The Tai O Supersite for Studying Ozone Pollution

Sampling inlet, NOy inlet,

wind, temp, and RH sensors

Ambient nephelometer

Real-time monitors

PSAP Aerosol absorption

VOC sampling pump

Solar radiation-global

Solar radiation-TUV

Transporting equipment/supplies to the field site

Accuracy and Precision

Accuracy: relative closeness of a measured value to the
true value
Precision: a measure of a methods reproducibility

Quality Assurance/Quality Control

A comprehensive QA/QC program for a network of continuous

analyzers might involve:

Daily automatic calibration checks of the analyzers

Site checks every one or two months
Regular analyzer servicing by trained instrument engineers
Regular intercalibrations (either taking several analyzers to the same
calibrator, or taking one calibrator around all the analyzers in succession)
Periodic checking of the calibrator against primary standards
Detailed manual and automatic scrutiny of the data to eliminate false
values caused by instrument malfunction or transmission faults. It is much
better to have holes in the data set than to have spurious values
Comprehensive review of period data sets
Telemetry of the data to the processing centre, so that faults can be spotted
as soon as they occur

Hong Kong Air Quality Objectives

(Unit: g/m3)
Air Pollutant

1-hour [1]

8-hour [2]

24-hour [2]

3-month [2]

1-year

SO2

800

--

350

--

80

NO2

300

--

150

--

80

CO

30000

10000

--

--

--

O3

240

--

--

--

--

TSP

--

--

260

--

80

RSP

--

--

180

--

55

Lead

--

--

--

1.5

-Note:

Not to be exceeded more than three times per year

Not to be exceeded more than once per year

Characteristics of air quality monitoring stations in

HK
Central/Western

Urban: residential area

Sham Shui Po

Urban: densely populated residential areas with

commercial developments

Eastern

Urban: densely populated residential area

Kwun Tong
Kwai Chung

Urban: densely populated residential areas with mixed

commercial/industrial developments

Tsuen Wan
Tai Po
Sha Tin

New town: residential area

Tung Chung
Yuen Long

New town: residential areas with fairly rapid

development

Tap Mun

Rural

Air Pollution Index

API is the conversion of the ambient RSP, SO2, CO, O3 and NO2
concentrations to a scale of 0 to 500.

An index of 100 corresponds to the short-term HKAQO (1-24 hours)

API is calculated by first computing the subindices of scale extending

from 0 to 500 for each air pollutant measured at each air quality
monitoring station based on the 1-hour, 8-hour and/or 24-hour average
concentrations.

API is subsequently calculated for each air quality monitoring station

by taking the maximum of the subindices among all the parameters
measured at that station to indicate the overall pollution level

API Conversion Table

API
subindex
level

Relationship
with
HKAQO

Corresponding Concentrations (g/m3)

RSP
24-hr

SO2
24-hr

SO2
1-hr

NO2
24-hr

NO2
1-hr

CO
8-hr

CO
1-hr

O3
1-hr

25

50% Annual
HKAQO/
25%
HKAQO

28

40

200

40

75

2500

7500

60

50

Annual
HKAQO/
50%
HKAQO

55

80

400

80

150

5000

15000

120

100

HKAQO

180

350

800

150

300

10000

30000

240

200

350

800

1600

280

1130

17000

60000

400

300

420

1600

2400

565

2260

34000

90000

800

400

500

2100

3200

750

3000

46000

120000

100

500

600

2620

4000

940

3750

57000

150000

1200

API versus O3 concentration

600
500

API

400
300
200
100
0
0

200

400

600

800

1000

Ozone Conc. (ug/m3)

1200

1400

Legislation for Management of

Air Quality in Hong Kong
The Air Pollution Control Ordinance

Smoke regulation limit continuous dark smoke to three minutes

Fuel restriction limit sulfur content of liquid fuel to 0.5%
Prior approval needed before work on furnace, oven and chimney
Ban of open burning of construction waste, tyes and cables for
metal salvage
Tightened asbestos control
Prior notification of certain construction works
Installation of vapor recovery to reduce benzene at gas stations
Motor vehicle fuel limit sulfur in diesel less than 0.2% and further
down to 0.05%
Ban the sale of leaded petrol after April 1999
Restrict use of ozone-depleting substances