A complex terrain dispersion model for regulatory applications

This paper demonstrates the development of a model designed to estimate con centrations associated with a source situated in complex terrain. The model is designed to provide estimates of concentration distributions and is thu s primarily suitable for regulatory applications. The model assumes that th e concentration at a receptor is a combination of concentrations caused by two asymptotic states: the plume remains horizontal, and the plume climbs o ver the hill. The factor that weights the two states is a function of the f ractional mass of the plume above the dividing streamline height. The model has been evaluated against data from four complex terrain sites. The evalu ation shows that the model performs at least as well as CTDMPLUS (Perry, S. G., 1992. CTDMPLUS, a dispersion model for sources near complex topography. Part I: technical formations. Journal of Applied Meteorology 31, 633-645), a more comprehensive model designed for complex terrain applications. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.