Lecture Three Atmospheric Dispersion and 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
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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.
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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.
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Wind
Characterized by speed and direction Affected by:
Horizontal pressure gradients Horizontal temperature gradients Friction related to surface roughness

Atmospheric Dispersion and Transport

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

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Important!

Atmospheric stability
Concept that describes movement of air near the surface Represents a continuum from very unstable to very stable air Characterized by vertical temperature gradients

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

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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
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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

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Isothermal lapse rates

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

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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
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Subsidence inversion
Associated with high-pressure systems Inversion layer is formed aloft Covers hundreds of thousands of square kms Persists for days

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Subsidence inversion

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Subsidence inversion
Migrating high-pressure systems Semi-permanent marine high-pressure systems
Results in large number of sunny calm days Inversion layer closest to the ground on continental side Responsible for air stagnation over Southern California

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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
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Topography related wind

21 Hall 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

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Important!

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

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Dispersion from point sources

Depends on plume rise
Effects transport Effects maximum ground level concentrations (MGLCs) Effects distance of MGLCs

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Plume rise and transport

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

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Dispersion of a point source

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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

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Plume Characteristics
Plumes
Expand as they move downwind Take forms and behaviors that reflect stability conditions

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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
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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.

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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
Catalyst Box Inlet Inlet Inlet

Bscat

Neph
PM2.5

Inlet

IMPROVE

Roof Top
NO NOy

42S 49 M300
VOC Bap

O3
CO SO2

PSAP

43S VOC Canister

Manifold

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

Solar radiation-global

VOC sampling pump

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 SO2 NO2 CO O3 TSP RSP Lead 1-hour [1] 800 300 30000 240 ---8-hour [2] --10000 ----24-hour [2] 350 150 --260 180 -3-month [2] ------1.5 1-year 80 80 --80 55 -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 Sham Shui Po Eastern Kwun Tong Kwai Chung Tsuen Wan Tai Po Sha Tin Tung Chung Yuen Long Tap Mun New town: residential areas with fairly rapid development Rural New town: residential area Urban: densely populated residential areas with mixed commercial/industrial developments Urban: residential area Urban: densely populated residential areas with commercial developments Urban: densely populated residential area

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 0 25 Relationship with HKAQO 50% Annual HKAQO/ 25% HKAQO Annual HKAQO/ 50% HKAQO HKAQO Corresponding Concentrations (g/m3) RSP 24-hr 0 28 SO2 24-hr 0 40 SO2 1-hr 0 200 NO2 24-hr 0 40 NO2 1-hr 0 75 CO 8-hr 0 2500 CO 1-hr 0 7500 O3 1-hr 0 60

50 100 200 300 400 500

55 180 350 420 500 600

80 350 800 1600 2100 2620

400 800 1600 2400 3200 4000

80 150 280 565 750 940

150 300 1130 2260 3000 3750

5000 10000 17000 34000 46000 57000

15000 30000 60000 90000 120000 150000

120 240 400 800 100 1200

API versus O3 concentration

600 500 400 API 300 200 100 0 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 Ozone Conc. (ug/m3)

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