Title: Effects of meteorological data thresholding on the quality of urban HPAC predictions of the Joint Urban 2003 field trials

Authors: Nathan Platt, Steve Warner, Jeffry T. Urban, James F. Heagy

Addresses: Institute for Defense Analyses, 4850 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22311-1182, USA. ' Institute for Defense Analyses, 4850 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22311-1182, USA. ' Institute for Defense Analyses, 4850 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22311-1182, USA. ' Institute for Defense Analyses, 4850 Mark Center Drive, Alexandria, VA 22311-1182, USA

Abstract: Comparisons of field trial observations with predictions created by the US Defense Threat Reduction Agency|s Hazard Prediction and Assessment Capability (HPAC) represent an ongoing effort. Intuitively, one might prefer to include meteorological inputs as close to the release location as possible. During Joint Urban 2003, SODARs measured vertical wind profiles–upwind, within the city centre near the releases, and downwind of Oklahoma City. Low altitude SODAR measurements fell within the urban canopy, while the upper altitude measurements were outside the canopy. In this paper, we demonstrate how the mix of lower altitude and upper altitude wind measurements affects HPAC predictions.

Keywords: model inter-comparison; atmospheric transport; dispersion modelling; urban environment; HPAC; hazard prediction; hazard assessment capability; meteorological data thresholding; air pollution; air quality; USA; United States; wind measurements.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2011.038428

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2011 Vol.44 No.1/2/3/4, pp.280 - 287

Published online: 29 Apr 2015 *

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