Title: Inter-comparison of the AUSTAL2000 and CALPUFF dispersion models against the Kincaid data set

Authors: Ka-Hing Yau, Robert W. Macdonald (deceased)

Addresses: Weather Services Centre Trenton, Meteorological Service of Canada, 54 North Star Drive, CFB Trenton P.O. Box 100 Stn Forces, Astra ON K0K 3W0, Canada. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. ' Lakes Environmental Software Inc., 419 Philips Street, Unit 3, Waterloo, Ontario, N2L 3X2, Canada

Abstract: Regulatory air dispersion models AUSTAL2000 and CALPUFF are validated by comparing the predicted Ground Level Concentrations (GLC) with the measured dataset resulting from the dispersion of an elevated, buoyant plume release in the Kincaid power plant experiment. Standard statistical measures of the model results are inter-compared. Their performance is scrutinised using scattered, quartile-quartile, and residual plots. The predicted GLC of AUSTAL is twice of Kincaid under turbulent conditions, being less accurate than CALPUFF. The performance of AUSTAL is more consistent with respect to varying atmospheric parameters and distance from stack. The stochastic variability of AUSTAL is also examined.

Keywords: AUSTAL2000; CALPUFF; Kincaid; model validation; regulatory models; dispersion modelling; air quality; air pollution; pollutant dispersion; power plant emissions; Lagrangian particle-tracking dispersion model; Gaussian puff model; downwind distance; wind shear; stability; mixing height.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2010.030898

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2010 Vol.40 No.1/2/3, pp.267 - 279

Published online: 11 Jan 2010 *

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