AERMOD: DESCRIPTION OF 

MODEL FORMULATION
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On assignment to the Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Laboratory, U.

S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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 EPA-454/R-03-004

 September 2004

AERMOD: 

DESCRIPTION OF 

MODEL FORMULATION 

By:

Alan J. Cimorelli, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3

Steven G. Perry1

, Atmospheric Sciences Modeling Division/Air Resources

Laboratory/NOAA, MD-80, USEPA

Akula Venkatram, College of Engineering, University of California at Riverside

Jeffrey C. Weil, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences,

University of Colorado

Robert J. Paine, ENSR Corporation

Robert B. Wilson, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10

Russell F. Lee, Charlotte, NC 28269

Warren D. Peters, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, OAQPS

Roger W. Brode, MACTEC Federal Programs, Inc. Durham, NC, 27709

James O. Paumier MACTEC Federal Programs, Inc. Durham, NC, 27709

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

Emissions Monitoring and Analysis Division

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
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Disclaimer

This report has been reviewed by the Office of Air Qualtiy Planning and Standards, U.S.

Environmental Protection Agency, and has been approved for publication. Mention of trade

names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use.
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Acknowledgments

This project was made possible through the continued support of Mr. Joe Tikvart, of EPA’s

Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS), and Mr. Frank Schiermeier, of NOAA’s

Atmospheric Sciences Modeling Division. The authors are particularly grateful to Dr. Gary

Briggs, and Mr. John Irwin, of NOAA’s Atmospheric Sciences Modeling Division, for their

thorough and constructive review of an earlier version of this document. Finally, we would like

to thank the many scientists who participated in peer reviews and beta testing.
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Table of Contents

1 Introduction ..............................................................8

1.1 Background .........................................................8

1.2 The AERMIC Focus: A Replacement for the ISC3 Model ......................9

1.3 Model Development Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

1.4 Purpose of Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

2 Model Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

3 Meteorological Preprocessor (AERMET) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3.1 Energy Balance in the PBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3.1.1 NET RADIATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3.1.2 TRANSITION BETWEEN THE CBL AND SBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

3.2 Derived Parameters in the CBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3.2.1 FRICTION VELOCITY (u*) & MONIN OBUKHOV LENGTH (L) IN THE CBL

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

3.2.2 CONVECTIVE VELOCITY SCALE (w*) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

3.3 Derived Parameters in the SBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3.3.1 FRICTION VELOCITY (u*) IN THE SBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

3.3.2 SENSIBLE HEAT FLUX (H) IN THE SBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3.3.3 MONIN OBUKHOV LENGTH (L) IN THE SBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3.4 Mixing Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

3.4.1 CONVECTIVE MIXING HEIGHT (zic) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

3.4.2 MECHANICAL MIXING HEIGHT (zim) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

4 Vertical Structure of the PBL - AERMOD’s Meteorological Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.1 General Profiling Equations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.1.1 WIND SPEED PROFILING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

4.1.2 WIND DIRECTION PROFILES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

4.1.3 PROFILES OF THE POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE GRADIENT . . . . . . . . . 27

4.1.4 POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE PROFILING . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

4.1.5 VERTICAL TURBULENCE CALCULATED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

4.1.6 LATERAL TURBULENCE CALCULATED BY THE INTERFACE . . . . . . . 33

4.2 Vertical Inhomogeneity in the Boundary Layer as Treated by the INTERFACE . . . 36

5 The AMS/EPA Regulatory Model AERMOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40

5.1 General Structure of AERMOD Including Terrain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

5.2 Concentration Predictions in the CBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

5.2.1 DIRECT SOURCE CONTRIBUTION TO CONCENTRATION

CALCULATIONS IN THE CBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
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5.2.2 INDIRECT SOURCE CONTRIBUTION TO CONCENTRATION

CALCULATIONS IN THE CBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

5.2.3 PENETRATED SOURCE CONTRIBUTION TO CONCENTRATION

CALCULATIONS IN THE CBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

5.3 Concentrations in the SBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

5.4 Treatment of Lateral Plume Meander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

5.5 Estimation of Dispersion Coefficients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

5.5.1 DISPERSION FROM AMBIENT TURBULENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

5.5.2 BUOYANCY INDUCED DISPERSION (BID) COMPONENT OF Fy AND Fz

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

5.5.3 TREATMENT OF BUILDING DOWNWASH . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

5.6 Plume Rise Calculations in AERMOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

5.6.1 PLUME RISE IN THE CBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

5.6.2 PLUME RISE IN THE SBL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

5.7 Source Characterization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

5.8 Adjustments for the Urban Boundary Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

6 List of Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

7 APPENDIX: Input / Output Needs and Data Usage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

7.1 AERMET Input Data Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

7.1.1 METEOROLOGY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

7.1.2 DIRECTIONALLY AND/OR MONTHLY VARYING SURFACE

CHARACTERISTICS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

7.1.3 OTHER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

7.1.4 OPTIONAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

7.2 Selection and Use of Measured Winds, Temperature and Turbulence in AERMET

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

7.2.1 THRESHOLD WIND SPEED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

7.2.2 REFERENCE TEMPERATURE AND HEIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

7.2.3 REFERENCE WIND SPEED AND HEIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

7.2.4 CALCULATING THE POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE GRADIENT ABOVE

THE MIXING HEIGHT FROM SOUNDING DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

7.2.5 MEASURED TURBULENCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7.2.6 DATA SUBSTITUTION FOR MISSING ON-SITE DATA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7.3 Information Passed by AERMET to AERMOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7.4 Restrictions on the Growth of PBL Height . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7.5 Initializing the Mechanical Mixing Height Smoothing Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

7.6 Determining The Mixing Height When the Sounding Is Too Shallow . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

7.7 Input Data Needs for AERMAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

7.8 Information Passed by AERMAP to AERMOD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

7.9 Wind Speed & Turbulence Limits Used in Model Calculations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

7.10 Using Profiles for Interpolating Between Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

7.11 Using Measured Mixing Heights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
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8 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
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1 Introduction

1.1 Background

In 1991, the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency (EPA) initiated a formal collaboration with the designed goal of introducing current

planetary boundary layer (PBL) concepts into regulatory dispersion models. A working group

(AMS/EPA Regulatory Model Improvement Committee, AERMIC) comprised of AMS and

EPA scientists was formed for this collaborative effort. 

In most air quality applications one is concerned with dispersion in the PBL, the turbulent air

layer next to the earth's surface that is controlled by the surface heating and friction and the

overlying stratification. The PBL typically ranges from a few hundred meters in depth at night to

1 - 2 km during the day. Major developments in understanding the PBL began in the 1970's

through numerical modeling, field observations, and laboratory simulations; see Wyngaard

(1988) for a summary. For the convective boundary layer (CBL), a milestone was Deardorff's

(1972) numerical simulations which revealed the CBL's vertical structure and important

turbulence scales. Major insights into dispersion followed from laboratory experiments,

numerical simulations, and field observations (e.g., see Briggs (1988), Lamb (1982),and Weil

(1988a) for reviews). For the stable boundary layer (SBL), advancements occurred more slowly. 

However, a sound theoretical/experimental framework for surface layer dispersion and

approaches for elevated sources emerged by the mid 1980's (e.g., see Briggs (1988) and

Venkatram (1988)).

During the mid 1980's, researchers began to apply this information to simple dispersion

models for applications. This consisted of eddy-diffusion techniques for surface releases,

statistical theory and PBL scaling for dispersion parameter estimation, a new probability density

function (pdf) approach for the CBL, simple techniques for obtaining meteorological variables

(e.g., surface heat flux) needed for turbulence parameterizations, etc. Much of this work was

reviewed and promoted in workshops (Weil 1985), revised texts (Pasquill and Smith 1983), and

in short courses and monographs (Nieuwstadt and van Dop 1982; Venkatram and Wyngaard

1988). By the mid 1980's, new applied dispersion models based on this technology had been

developed including PPSP (Weil and Brower 1984), OML (Berkowicz et al. 1986), HPDM

(Hanna and Paine 1989), TUPOS (Turner et al. 1986), CTDMPLUS (Perry et al. 1989); later,

ADMS developed in the United Kingdom (see Carruthers et al. (1992)) was added as well as

SCIPUFF (Sykes et al. 1996). AERMIC members were involved in the development of three of

these models - PPSP, CTDMPLUS and HPDM.

By the mid-to-late 1980's, a substantial scientific base on the PBL and new dispersion

approaches existed for revamping regulatory dispersion models, but this did not occur. In a

review of existing or proposed regulatory models developed prior to 1984, Smith (1984) reported

that the techniques were many years behind the state-of-the-art and yielded predictions that did

not agree well with observations. Similar findings were reported by Hayes and Moore (1986),

who summarized 15 model evaluation studies. The need for a comprehensive overhaul of EPA's

basic regulatory models was clearly recognized. This need, including a summary of background

information and recommendations, was the focus of an AMS/EPA Workshop on Updating
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Applied Diffusion Models held 24-27 January 1984 in Clearwater, Florida (see Weil (1985) and

other review papers in the November 1985 issue of the Journal of Climate and Applied

Meteorology.

In February 1991, the U.S. EPA in conjunction with the AMS held a workshop for state and

EPA regional meteorologists on the parameterization of PBL turbulence and state-of-the-art

dispersion modeling. One of the outcomes of the workshop was the formation of AERMIC. As

noted above, the expressed purpose of the AERMIC activity was to build upon the earlier model

developments and to provide a state-of-the-art dispersion model for regulatory applications. The

early efforts of the AERMIC group are described by Weil (1992). In going through the design

process and in considering the nature of present regulatory models, AERMIC’s goal expanded

from its early form. In addition to improved parameterization of PBL turbulence, other problems

such as plume interaction with terrain, surface releases, building downwash and urban

dispersion were recognized as needing attention.

The new model developed by AERMIC is aimed at short-range dispersion from stationary

industrial sources, the same scenario handled by the EPA Industrial Source Complex Model,

ISC3 (U.S.Environmental Protection Agency 1995). This work clearly has benefitted from the

model development activities of the1980's especially in the parameterization of mean winds and

PBL turbulence, dispersion in the CBL, and the treatment of plume/terrain interactions.

Techniques used in the new model for PBL parameterizations and CBL dispersion are similar to

those used in earlier models. Turbulence characterization in the CBL adopts "convective

scaling" as suggested by Deardorff (1972) as is included in most of the models mentioned above

(e.g., PPSP, OML, and HPDM). Algorithms used in these earlier models were considered along

with variants and improvements to them. In addition, the developers of OML met with

AERMIC to discuss their experiences. Thus, much credit for the AERMIC model development

is to be given to the pioneering efforts of the 1980s.

1.2 The AERMIC Focus: A Replacement for the ISC3 Model

AERMIC’s initial focus has been on the regulatory models that are designed for estimating

near-field impacts from a variety of industrial source types. EPA’s regulatory platform for

near-field modeling, during the past 25 years has, with few exceptions, remained fundamentally

unchanged. During this period, ISC3 was the workhorse regulatory model (used in the

construction of most State Implementation Plans, new source permits, risk assessments and

exposure analysis for toxic air pollutants) with code structure that is conducive to change. 

Therefore, AERMIC selected the EPA’s ISC3 Model for a major overhaul. AERMIC’s

objective was to develop a complete replacement for ISC3 by: 1) adopting ISC3's input/output

computer architecture; 2) updating, where practical, antiquated ISC3 model algorithms with

newly developed or current state-of-the-art modeling techniques; and 3) insuring that the source

and atmospheric processes presently modeled by ISC3 will continue to be handled by the

AERMIC Model (AERMOD), albeit in an improved manner. 

The AERMOD modeling system consists of two pre-processors and the dispersion model. 

The AERMIC meteorological preprocessor (AERMET) provides AERMOD with the

meteorological information it needs to characterize the PBL. The AERMIC terrain
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pre-processor (AERMAP) both characterizes the terrain, and generates receptor grids for the

dispersion model (AERMOD).

AERMET uses meteorological data and surface characteristics to calculate boundary layer

parameters (e.g. mixing height, friction velocity, etc.) needed by AERMOD. This data, whether

measured off-site or on-site, must be representative of the meteorology in the modeling domain. 

AERMAP uses gridded terrain data for the modeling area to calculate a representative

terrain-influence height associated with each receptor location. The gridded data is supplied to

AERMAP in the format of the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) data (USGS 1994). The terrain

preprocessor can also be used to compute elevations for both discrete receptors and receptor

grids.

In developing AERMOD, AERMIC adopted design criteria to yield a model with desirable

regulatory attributes. It was felt that the model should: 1) provide reasonable concentration

estimates under a wide variety of conditions with minimal discontinuities; 2) be user friendly and

require reasonable input data and computer resources as is the case with the ISC3 model; 3)

capture the essential physical processes while remaining fundamentally simple; and, 4)

accommodate modifications with ease as the science evolves.

Relative to ISC3, AERMOD currently contains new or improved algorithms for: 1)

dispersion in both the convective and stable boundary layers; 2) plume rise and buoyancy; 3)

plume penetration into elevated inversions; 4) computation of vertical profiles of wind,

turbulence, and temperature; 5) the urban nighttime boundary layer; 6) the treatment of receptors

on all types of terrain from the surface up to and above the plume height; 7) the treatment of

building wake effects; 8) an improved approach for characterizing the fundamental boundary

layer parameters; and 9) the treatment of plume meander. 

1.3 Model Development Process

A seven step model development process, followed by AERMIC, resulted in the promulgation

of a regulatory replacement for the ISC3 model, AERMOD. The process followed is as follows:

1) initial model formulation; 2) developmental evaluation; 3) internal peer review and beta

testing; 4) revised model formulation; 5) performance evaluation and sensitivity testing; 6)

external peer review; and 7) submission to EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

(OAQPS) for consideration as a regulatory model.

The initial formulations of AERMOD are summarized in Perry et al. (1994) and Cimorelli

et al. (1996). Once formulated, the model was tested (developmental evaluation) against a

variety of field measurements in order to identify areas needing improvement. The

developmental evaluation provided a basis for selecting formulation options.

This developmental evaluation was conducted using five data bases. Three consisted of

event-based tracer releases, while the other two each contain up to a full year of continuous SO2

measurements. These data bases cover elevated and surface releases, complex and simple

terrain, and rural and urban boundary layers. A description of the early developmental

evaluation is presented in Lee et al. (1995) and in a later report by Lee et al. (1998). 

Additionally, a comprehensive peer review (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2002) was

conducted. Many revisions to the original formulation have resulted from this evaluation and

comments received during the peer review, beta testing, and the public forum at EPA’s Sixth
2

40 CFR Part 51 pages 21506-21546

3

Federal Register on May 19, 2000 (Volume 65, Number 98)

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Conference on Air Quality Modeling (in 1995). Lee et al. (1998) describe the developmental

evaluation repeated with the current model (i.e., revisions based on the developmental evaluation

and peer review).

In addition, AERMOD underwent a comprehensive performance evaluation (Brode 2002)

designed to assess how well AERMOD’s concentration estimates compare against a variety of

independent data bases and to assess the adequacy of the model for use in regulatory decision

making. That is, how well does the model predict concentrations at the high end of the

concentration distribution? AERMOD was evaluated against five independent data bases (two in

simple terrain and three in complex terrain), each containing one full year of continuous SO2

measurements. Additionally, AERMOD’s performance was compared against the performance

of four other applied, regulatory models: ISC3 (U.S.Environmental Protection Agency 1995),

CTDMPLUS (Perry 1992), RTDM (Paine and Egan 1987) and HPDM (Hanna and Paine 1989;

Hanna and Chang 1993). The performance of these models against AERMOD has been

compared using the procedures in EPA’s “Protocol for Determining the Best Performing Model”

(U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 1992). 

On 21 April 2000 EPA proposed2

 that AERMOD be adopted as a replacement to ISC3 in

appendix A of the Guideline on Air Quality Models (Code of Federal Regulations 1997). As

such, upon final action, AERMOD would become EPA’s preferred regulatory model for both

simple and complex terrain. Furthermore, on 19 May 2000 EPA announced3 its intention to hold

the Seventh Conference on Air Quality Modeling on 28-29 June 2000. The purpose of this

conference was to receive comments on the April, 2000 proposal. At the Seventh Conference,

results of the performance evaluation and peer review were presented and public comments were

received. Based on these comments AERMOD was revised to incorporate the PRIME

algorithms for building downwash, to remove the dependency on modeling domain in

AERMOD’s complex terrain formulation, and a variety of other less significant issues. A

description of the fully revised model is presented here and in Cimorelli et al. (2004) and Perry

et al. (2003). Performance of the final version of AERMOD is documented in Perry et al. (2003)

and Brode (2002).

1.4 Purpose of Document

The purpose of this document is to provide a comprehensive, detailed description of the

technical formulation of AERMOD and its preprocessors. This document is intended to provide

many of the details that are not included in the published journal articles (Cimorelli et al. 2004;

Perry et al. 2003).

This document does not include information related to model performance. As mentioned

above, a description of the performance of the model that is described in this document can be

found in Perry et al. (2003) and Brode (2002). 
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2 Model Overview

This section provides a general overview of the most important features of AERMOD. 

With the exception of treating pollutant deposition, AERMOD serves as a complete replacement

for ISC3. However, it is the intention of AERMIC to incorporate both dry and wet particle and

gaseous deposition as well as source or plume depletion. Once this is accomplished this report

will be revised to include a description of the deposition formulation. Thus, the AERMOD

model described here is applicable to rural and urban areas, flat and complex terrain, surface and

elevated releases, and multiple sources (including, point, area and volume sources). Every effort

has been made to avoid model formulation discontinuities wherein large changes in calculated

concentrations result from small changes in input parameters. 

AERMOD is a steady-state plume model. In the stable boundary layer (SBL), it assumes

the concentration distribution to be Gaussian in both the vertical and horizontal. In the

convective boundary layer (CBL), the horizontal distribution is also assumed to be Gaussian, but

the vertical distribution is described with a bi-Gaussian probability density function (pdf). This

behavior of the concentration distributions in the CBL was demonstrated by Willis and Deardorff

(1981) and Briggs (1993). Additionally, in the CBL, AERMOD treats “plume lofting,” whereby

a portion of plume mass, released from a buoyant source, rises to and remains near the top of the

boundary layer before becoming mixed into the CBL. AERMOD also tracks any plume mass

that penetrates into the elevated stable layer, and then allows it to re-enter the boundary layer

when and if appropriate. For sources in both the CBL and the SBL AERMOD treats the

enhancement of lateral dispersion resulting from plume meander.

Using a relatively simple approach, AERMOD incorporates current concepts about flow

and dispersion in complex terrain. Where appropriate the plume is modeled as either impacting

and/or following the terrain. This approach has been designed to be physically realistic and

simple to implement while avoiding the need to distinguish among simple, intermediate and

complex terrain, as required by other regulatory models. As a result, AERMOD removes the

need for defining complex terrain regimes. All terrain is handled in a consistent and continuous

manner while considering the dividing streamline concept (Snyder et al. 1985) in stablystratified conditions. 

One of the major improvements that AERMOD brings to applied dispersion modeling is its

ability to characterize the PBL through both surface and mixed layer scaling. AERMOD

constructs vertical profiles of required meteorological variables based on measurements and

extrapolations of those measurements using similarity (scaling) relationships. Vertical profiles of

wind speed, wind direction, turbulence, temperature, and temperature gradient are estimated

using all available meteorological observations. AERMOD is designed to run with a minimum

of observed meteorological parameters. As a replacement for the ISC3 model, AERMOD can

operate using data of a type that is readily available from National Weather Service (NWS)

stations. AERMOD requires only a single surface measurement of wind speed (measured

between 7 zo and 100m - where zo is the surface roughness height), wind direction and ambient

temperature. Like ISC3, AERMOD also needs observed cloud cover. However, if cloud cover

is not available (e.g. from an on-site monitoring program) two vertical measurements of

temperature (typically at 2 and 10 meters), and a measurement of solar radiation can be

substituted. A full morning upper air sounding (RAWINSONDE) is required in order to
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Figure 2: Data flow in the AERMOD modeling system

calculate the convective mixing height throughout the day. Surface characteristics (surface

roughness, Bowen ratio, and albedo) are also needed in order to construct similarity profiles of

the relevant PBL parameters. 

Unlike existing regulatory models, AERMOD accounts for the vertical inhomogeneity of

the PBL in its dispersion calculations. This is accomplished by "averaging" the parameters of

the actual PBL into "effective" parameters of an equivalent homogeneous PBL. 

Figure 2 shows the flow and processing of information in AERMOD. The modeling

system consists of one main program (AERMOD) and two pre-processors (AERMET and

AERMAP). The major purpose of AERMET is to calculate boundary layer parameters for use

by AERMOD. The meteorological INTERFACE, internal to AERMOD, uses these parameters

to generate profiles of the needed meteorological variables. In addition, AERMET passes all

meteorological observations to AERMOD. 

Surface characteristics in the form of albedo, surface roughness and Bowen ratio, plus

standard meteorological observations (wind speed, wind direction, temperature, and cloud

cover), are input to AERMET. AERMET then calculates the PBL parameters: friction velocity

(u*), Monin-Obukhov length (L), convective velocity scale (w*), temperature scale (2*), mixing

height (zi

), and surface heat flux (H). These parameters are then passed to the INTERFACE

(which is within AERMOD) where similarity expressions (in conjunction with measurements)

are used to calculate vertical profiles of wind speed (u), lateral and vertical turbulent fluctuations

(Fv, Fw), potential temperature gradient (d2/dz), and potential temperature (2 ). 
14

The AERMIC terrain pre-processor AERMAP uses gridded terrain data to calculate a

representative terrain-influence height (hc), also referred to as the terrain height scale. The

terrain height scale hc, which is uniquely defined for each receptor location, is used to calculate

the dividing streamline height. The gridded data needed by AERMAP is selected from Digital

Elevation Model (DEM) data. AERMAP is also used to create receptor grids. The elevation for

each specified receptor is automatically assigned through AERMAP. For each receptor,

AERMAP passes the following information to AERMOD: the receptor’s location (xr , yr), its

height above mean sea level (zr), and the receptor specific terrain height scale (hc).

A comprehensive description of the basic formulation of the AERMOD dispersion model

including the INTERFACE, AERMET, and AERMAP is presented in this document. Included

are: 1) a complete description of the AERMET algorithms that provide quantitative hourly PBL

parameters; 2) the general form of the concentration equation with adjustments for terrain; 3)

plume rise and dispersion algorithms appropriate for both the convective and stable boundary

layers; 4) handling of boundary layer inhomogeneity; 5) algorithms for developing vertical

profiles of the necessary meteorological parameters; 6) a treatment of the nighttime urban

boundary layer; 7) treatment of building downwash (incorporation of PRIME); and 8)

enhancement of lateral dispersion due to plume meander. The model described here represents

the 04300 versions of AERMOD, AERMET and AERMAP. In addition, all of the symbols used

for the many parameters and variables that are referred to in this document are defined, with

their appropriate units, in the section titled “List of Symbols.”
15

H EG Rn + λ + = (1)

( ) H

R

B

n = +

0 9

1 1 0

. . (2)

3 Meteorological Preprocessor (AERMET)

The basic purpose of AERMET is to use meteorological measurements, representative of

the modeling domain, to compute certain boundary layer parameters used to estimate profiles of 

wind, turbulence and temperature. These profiles are estimated by the AERMOD interface

which is described in Section 4.

While the structure of AERMET is based upon an existing regulatory model preprocessor,

the Meteorological Processor for Regulatory Models (MPRM) (Irwin et al. 1988) the actual

processing of the meteorological data is similar to that done for the CTDMPLUS (Perry 1992)

and HPDM (Hanna and Paine 1989; Hanna and Chang 1993) models. The growth and structure

of the atmospheric boundary layer is driven by the fluxes of heat and momentum which in turn

depend upon surface effects. The depth of this layer and the dispersion of pollutants within it are

influenced on a local scale by surface characteristics such as surface roughness, reflectivity

(albedo), and the availability of surface moisture. The surface parameters provided by AERMET

are the Monin-Obukhov Length (L), surface friction velocity (u*), surface roughness length (zo),

surface heat flux (H), and the convective scaling velocity (w*). AERMET also provides

estimates of the convective and mechanical mixed layer heights, zic and zim, respectively. 

AERMET defines the stability of the PBL by the sign of H (convective for H > 0 and stable for

H < 0 ). Although AERMOD is capable of estimating meteorological profiles with data from as

little as one measurement height, it will use as much data as the user can provide for defining the

vertical structure of the boundary layer. In addition to PBL parameters, AERMET passes all

measurements of wind, temperature, and turbulence in a form AERMOD needs.

3.1 Energy Balance in the PBL

The fluxes of heat and momentum drive the growth and structure of the PBL. To properly

characterize the PBL, one first needs a good estimate of the surface sensible heat flux (H) which

depends on the net radiation (Rn) and surface characteristics such as the available surface

moisture (described in the form of the Bowen ratio (Bo)). In the CBL, a simple energy balance

approach, as in Oke (1978), is used to derive the expression, used in AERMET, to calculate the

sensible heat flux, H. We begin with the following simple characterization of the energy balance

in the PBL:

where H is the sensible heat flux, 8E is the latent heat flux, G is the soil heat flux, and Rn is the

net radiation. To arrive at an estimate of H simple parameterizations are made for the soil and

latent heat flux terms; that is, , and , respectively. Substituting these G Rn = 01. λ E HBo =

expressions into eq. (1) the expression for surface heat flux becomes, 
16

( ) R

r R cT T cn

c n

ref SB ref

= − +− +

+

1

1

1

6 4

2

3

{ } , φ σ (3)

RR n = − o (1 075 ) 3 4 . , . (4)

( )( ) sin

{} . . . φ

σ

φ

crit

SB cT T cn

r n = −+ −

− − +

⎡

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥

1

990 1 1 075

30 1

6 4

2

3 4 (5)

3.1.1 NET RADIATION

If measured values for Rn are not available, the net radiation is estimated from the

insolation and the thermal radiation balance at the ground following the method of Holtslag and

van Ulden (1983) as

where c1 = 5.31x10-13 W m-2 K-6, c2 = 60 W m-2, c3 = 0.12, FSB is the Stefin Boltzman Constant

(5.67x10-8 Wm-2K-4), Tref is the ambient air temperature at the reference height for temperature

and Rn is the net radiation. The albedo is calculated as , where r r r ab { } ( ) exp( ) φ = ′ + 1− ′ φ +

a = − 01. , , and Note, braces, {}, are used throughout this b r =− − 05 1( )′ 2 . r r ′ = = o { }. φ 90

report to denote the functional form of variables.

Solar radiation, R, corrected for cloud cover, is taken from Kasten and Czeplak (1980) as

where n is the fractional cloud cover and Ro is the clear sky insolation which is calculated as

, and N is the solar elevation angle (tp R ( ) and t are the o = − 990 30 sinφ =

⎛ +

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ φ φ { } {} t t p

2

previous and present hours, respectively) (1975) . Note that when observations of cloud cover

are unavailable a value of 0.5 is assumed in eq. (3) and measurements of solar radiation are

required.

3.1.2 TRANSITION BETWEEN THE CBL AND SBL

When the PBL transitions from convective to stable conditions the heat flux changes sign

from a positive to a negative value. At the point of transition the heat flux must therefore vanish,

implying that the net radiation is equal to zero. By setting Ro equal to zero in eq. (3), and solving

for sin N, the critical solar elevation angle Ncrit ,corresponding to the transition point between the

CBL and the SBL can be determined from

Therefore, AERMET defines the point of transition between the CBL and SBL (day to

night) as the point in time when the solar elevation angle N = Ncrit. On average, for clear and

partly cloudy conditions, the transition from stable to convective conditions occurs when N
17

( ) { } { } u

ku

z z z L zL

ref

ref o m ref m o

*

ln

= , − + Ψ Ψ (6)

{ }

{ }

Ψ

Ψ

m ref

m o

o o

o

z L

z L

= ⎛ +

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ +

⎛ +

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ − +

= ⎛ +

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ +

⎛ +

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ − +

−

−

2

1

2

1

2

2 2

2

1

2

1

2

2 2

2

1

2

1

ln ln tan

ln ln tan

μ μ

μ π

μ μ

μ π

(7)

reaches approximately 13o

; for overcast conditions Ncrit increases to about 23o (Holtslag and van

Ulden 1983).

However, if solar radiation measurements are available AERMET determines Ncrit from an 

estimate of cloud cover rather than the actual observations themselves. In eq. (5) the cloud cover

(n) is replaced with an equivalent cloud cover (neq) that is calculated from eq. (4) such that

n . R R eq

o = ⎛ −

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ 1

0 75

134

.

.

3.2 Derived Parameters in the CBL

In this section the methods used by AERMET to calculate the PBL parameters in the

convective boundary layer are discussed. AERMET first estimates the sensible heat flux (H ),

then calculates the friction velocity (u*) and the Monin Obukhov Length (L). With H, u* and L,

AERMET can then estimate the height of the mixed layer and the convective velocity scale (w*).

3.2.1 FRICTION VELOCITY (u*) & MONIN OBUKHOV LENGTH (L) IN THE CBL

In the CBL, AERMET computes the surface friction velocity, u*, and the Monin-Obukhov

length, L, using the value of H estimated from eq. (2). Since the friction velocity and the Monin

Obukhov length depend on each other, an iterative method, similar to that used in CTDMPLUS

(Perry 1992), is used. AERMOD initializes u*, and L by assuming neutral conditions (i.e., L=4). 

The final estimate of u* and L is made once convergence is reached through iterative

calculations (i.e., there is less than a 1% change between successive iterations). The expression

for u* (e.g., Panofsky and Dutton (1984)) is 

where k is the von Karman constant (= 0.4), uref is the wind speed at reference height, zref is the

reference measurement height for wind in the surface layer, and zo is the roughness length. The

stability terms (Rm’s) in eq. (6) are computed as follows:

where and . μ = − ( ) 1 16 1 4

z L ref μ o o = − ( ) 1 16z L

1 4

The initial step in the iteration is to solve eq. (6) for u* assuming that Rm = 0 (neutral limit)

and setting u = uref. Having an initial estimate of u*, L is calculated from the following

definition (eg. see Wyngaard (1988)):
18

L

cT u

kgH

p ref

= − ρ *

3

(8)

w

gHz

c T

ic

p ref

* = ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟ ρ

1 3

(9)

where g is the acceleration of gravity, cp is the specific heat of air at constant pressure, D is the

density of air, and Tref is the ambient temperature representative of the surface layer. Then u* and

L are iteratively recalculated using eqs. (6), (7) and (8) until the value of L changes by less than

1%.

The reference heights for wind speed and temperature that are used in determining the

friction velocity and Monin-Obukhov length are optimally chosen to be representative of the

surface layer in which the similarity theory has been formulated and tested with experimental

data. Typically, a 10 m height for winds and a temperature within the range of 2 to 10 m is

chosen. However, for excessively rough sites (such as urban areas with zo can be in excess of 1

m), AERMET has a safeguard to accept wind speed reference data that range vertically between

7 zo and 100 m. Below 7 zo (roughly, the height of obstacles or vegetation), measurements are

unlikely to be representative of the general area. A similar restriction for temperature

measurements is imposed, except that temperature measurements as low as zo are permitted. 

Above 100 m, the wind and temperature measurements are likely to be above the surface layer,

especially during stable conditions. Therefore, AERMET imposes an upper limit of 100 meters

for reference wind speed and temperature measurements for the purpose of computing the

similarity theory friction velocity and Monin-Obukhov length each hour. Of course, other US

EPA guidance for acceptable meteorological siting should be consulted in addition to keeping

the AERMET restrictions in mind.

3.2.2 CONVECTIVE VELOCITY SCALE (w*)

AERMOD utilizes the convective velocity scale to characterize the convective portion of

the turbulence in the CBL. Field observations, laboratory experiments, and numerical modeling

studies show that the large turbulent eddies in the CBL have velocities proportional to the

convective velocity scale (w*) (Wyngaard 1988). Thus in order to estimate turbulence in the

CBL, an estimate of w* is needed. AERMET calculates the convective velocity scale from its

definition as:

where zic is the convective mixing height (see Section 3.4).
19

θ* * = − H cu ρ p (10)

L

T

kg u

ref

= θ *

* .

2 (11)

u

u

k

z

z

z

o L

m ref

= ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ +

⎡

⎣

⎢ ⎤

⎦

⎥ * ln , β (12)

u

u C

z g

D T u

m ref

* ref

*

*

= + . 1

2

β θ

(13)

u C uu C u * * D Do , 2 2 − += 0 (14)

3.3 Derived Parameters in the SBL

In this section the parameters used to characterize the SBL are discussed along with their

estimation methods. During stable conditions the energy budget term associated with the ground

heating component is highly site-specific. During the day, this component is only about 10% of

the total net radiation, while at night, its value is comparable to that of the net radiation (Oke

1978). Therefore, errors in the ground heating term can generally be tolerated during the

daytime, but not at night. To avoid using a nocturnal energy balance approach that relies upon

an accurate estimate of ground heating, AERMIC has adopted a much simpler semi-empirical

approach for computing u* and L.

3.3.1 FRICTION VELOCITY (u*) IN THE SBL

The computation of u* depends on the empirical observation that the temperature scale, 2* ,

defined as

varies little during the night. Following the logic of Venkatram (1980) we combine the

definition of L eq. (8) with eq. (10) to express the Monin-Obukhov length in the SBL as

From (Panofsky and Dutton 1984) the wind speed profile in stable conditions takes the form

where $m = 5 and zref is the wind speed reference measurement height. Substituting eq. (11) into

eq. (12) and defining the drag coefficient, CD, as (Garratt 1992), results in k zz ln( ref o )

Multiplying eq. (13) by CD u*

2

 and rearranging yields a quadratic of the form

where . As is used in HPDM (Hanna and Chang 1993) and CTDMPLUS u zg T o m ref ref

2 = β θ*

(Perry 1992) this quadratic has a solution of the form
20

u

C u u

C u

D ref o

D ref

* = −+ + . ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎡

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥

⎥ 2

1 1

2

1 2

2 1 2

(15)

( )

( )

u u u u u u for u u

u u for u u

cr cr cr

cr cr

* *

* *

== < { }

θ θ = <

θ θ

θ

{ } ln β * z k

z

z

z

L o

o

m −= +

⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ (17)

( )

( ) θ

θ θ

β

*

ln

= . −

⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ +

⎡ −

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥

k

z

z

z z

L m

2 1

2

1

2 1 (18)

θ ( ) * = − 0 09 1 05 . ., 2n (16)

Equation (15) produces real-valued solutions only when the wind speed is greater than or equal

to the critical value For the wind speed less than the critical value, [ ] u* u z g TC cr m ref ref D = 4 1 2

β θ * .

and 2* are parameterized using the following linear expression:

These expressions approximate the u* verses 2* dependence found by van Ulden and Holtslag

(1983).

In order to calculate u* from eq. (15) an estimate of 2* is needed. If representative cloud

cover observations are available the temperature scale in the SBL is taken from the empirical

form of van Ulden and Holtslag (1985) as:

where n is the fractional cloud cover. However, if cloud cover measurements are not available,

AERMET can estimate 2* from measurements of temperature at two levels and wind speed at

one level. This technique, know as the Bulk Richardson approach, starts with the similarity

expression for potential temperature (Panofsky and Dutton 1984), that is,

where $m . 5 and k (= 0.4) is the von Karman constant. Applying eq. (17) to the two levels of

temperature measurements and rearranging terms yields

Since both u* (eq. (12)) and 2* (eq. (18)) depend on L, and L (eq. (11)) in turn depends on u*

and 2*, an iterative approach is needed to estimate u*. u* and 2* are found by first assuming an

initial value for L and iterating among the expressions for u*, 2* (eq. (18)) and L (eq. (11)) until

convergence is reached. The expression used for u*, in the iteration, is taken from (Holtslag
21

( ) ( )

u

ku

z

z

z

o L z L z L

m

*

ln ln . . .

= .

+ + − +−

⎡

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥ 7

4 25 05

2 2 1648 β (19)

H cup = − ρ * * θ . (20)

[ ] θ * * max u ms K = . . − 0 05 1 (21)

1984) and depends on atmospheric stability. For situations in which u* is estimated z

L ≤ 05.

using eq. (12), otherwise (for more stable cases) u* is calculated as follows:

3.3.2 SENSIBLE HEAT FLUX (H) IN THE SBL

Having computed u* and 2* for stable conditions, AERMET calculates the surface heat flux

from eq. (10) as

AERMET limits the amount of heat that can be lost by the underlying surface to 64 W m-2. This

value is based on a restriction that Hanna (1986) placed on the product of 2* and u*. That is, for

typical conditions Hanna found that

When the heat flux, calculated from eq. (20), is such that 2* u* > 0.05 m s-1 K, AERMET

recalculates u* by substituting 0.05/u* into eq. (15) for 2* (uo in eq. (15) is a function of 2* ).

3.3.3 MONIN OBUKHOV LENGTH (L) IN THE SBL

Using the sensible heat flux of eq.(20) and u* from eq. (15), the Monin-Obukhov Length, for

the SBL is calculated from eq. (8).

3.4 Mixing Height

The mixing height (zi

) in the CBL depends on both mechanical and convective processes and

is assumed to be the larger of a mechanical mixing height (zim) and a convective mixing height

(zic). Whereas, in the SBL, the mixing height results exclusively from mechanical (or shear

induced) turbulence and therefore is identically equal to zim. The same expression for calculating 

zim is used in both the CBL and the SBL. The following two sections describe the procedures

used to estimate zic and zim, respectively.
22

z

u L

f ie = ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠ 0 4. , ⎟ * (23)

{ } { } ( ) { } z z z dz A

H t

c

dt ic ic

z

p

ic t

θ θ

ρ

− =+ ∫ ∫

0 0

1 2

'

'

, (22)

z u ie = 2300 3 2

* , (24)

3.4.1 CONVECTIVE MIXING HEIGHT (zic)

The height of the CBL is needed to estimate the profiles of important PBL variables and to

calculate pollutant concentrations. If measurements of the convective boundary layer height are

available they are selected and used by the model. If measurements are not available, zic is

calculated with a simple one-dimensional energy balance model (Carson 1973) as modified by

Weil and Brower (1983). This model uses the early morning potential temperature sounding

(prior to sunrise), and the time varying surface heat flux to calculate the time evolution of the

convective boundary layer as

where 2 is the potential temperature, A is set equal to 0.2 from Deardorff (1980), and t is the

hour after sunrise. Weil and Brower found good agreement between predictions and

observations of zic, using this approach.

3.4.2 MECHANICAL MIXING HEIGHT (zim)

In the early morning when the convective mixed layer is small, the full depth of the PBL may

be controlled by mechanical turbulence. AERMET estimates the heights of the PBL during

convective conditions as the maximum of the estimated (or measured if available) convective

boundary layer height (zic) and the estimated (or measured) mechanical mixing height. 

AERMET uses this procedure to insure that in the early morning, when zic is very small but

considerable mechanical mixing may exist, the height of the PBL is not underestimated. When

measurements of the mechanical mixed layer are not available, zim is calculated by assuming that

it approaches the equilibrium height given by Zilitinkevich (1972) as

where zie is the equilibrium mechanical mixing height and f is the Coriolis parameter. 

Venkatram (1980) has shown that, in mid-latitudes, eq. (23) can be empirically represented

as

where zie (calculated from eq. (24)) is the unsmoothed mechanical mixed layer height. When

measurements of the mechanical mixed layer height are available they are used in lieu of zie.

To avoid estimating sudden and unrealistic drops in the depth of the shear-induced, turbulent

layer, the time evolution of the mechanical mixed layer height (whether measured or estimated)

is computed by relaxing the solution toward the equilibrium value appropriate for the current

hour. Following the approach of Venkatram (1982)
23

dz ( )

dt

z z im ie im = −

τ . (25)

{ } {} ( ) { } ( ) z t t z te z t t e im im [ ] t

ie

t += + + − − − ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ τ τ 1 , (26)

z MAX z z for L CBL [ ]

z z for L SBL

i ic im

i im

= <

= <

; ()

( )

0

0

(27)

The time scale, J , governs the rate of change in height of the layer and is taken to be

proportional to the ratio of the turbulent mixed layer depth and the surface friction velocity (i.e. J

= zim / $J u*). AERMOD uses a constant $J value of 2. For example, if u* is of order 0.2 m s-1,

and zim is of order 500 m, the time scale is of the order of 1250 s which is related to the time it

takes for the mechanical mixed layer height to approach its equilibrium value. Notice that when

zim < zie, the mechanical mixed layer height increases to approach its current equilibrium value;

conversely, when zim > zie, the mechanical mixed layer height decreases towards its equilibrium

value.

Because the friction velocity changes with time, the current smoothed value of zim{t+)t} is

obtained by numerically integrating eq. (25) such that

where zim{t} is the previous hour’s smoothed value. For computing the time scale in eq. (26), zim

is taken from the previous hour’s estimate and u* from the current hour. In this way, the time

scale (and thus relaxation time) will be short if the equilibrium mixing height grows rapidly but

will be long if it decreases rapidly.

Although eqs. (24) and (26) are designed for application in the SBL, they are used in the

CBL to ensure a proper estimate of the PBL height during the short transitional period at the

beginning of the day when mechanical turbulence generally dominates. The procedure, used by

AERMET, guarantees the use of the convective mixing height once adequate convection has

been established even though the mechanical mixing height is calculated during all convective

conditions. Since AERMET uses eq. (26) to estimate the height of the mixed layer in the SBL,

discontinuities in zi from night to day are avoided.

In AERMOD, the mixing height zi, has an expanded role in comparison to how it is used in

ISC3. In AERMOD the mixing height is used as an elevated reflecting/penetrating surface, an

important scaling height, and enters in the w* determination found in eq. (9). The mixing height

zi for the convective and stable boundary layers is therefore defined as follows:

Since algorithms used for profiling differ in the SBL and CBL, the stability of the PBL must

be determined. For this purpose the sign of L is used by AERMET; if L < 0 then the PBL is

considered to be convective (CBL) otherwise it is stable (SBL).
24

{ }

{ }

uuz

z

z

for z z

u

u

k

z

z

z

L

z

L for z z z

u u z for z z

o

o

o

o

m m

o

o i

i i

= ⎡

⎣

⎢ ⎤

⎦

⎥ <

= ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ − ⎧

⎨

⎩

⎫

⎬

⎭ +

⎧

⎨

⎩

⎫

⎬

⎭

⎡

⎣

⎢ ⎤

⎦

⎥ ≤ ≤

= >

7

7

7

7 * ln Ψ Ψ (28)

4 Vertical Structure of the PBL - AERMOD’s Meteorological Interface

The AERMOD interface, a set of routines within AERMOD, uses similarity relationships

with the boundary layer parameters, the measured meteorological data, and other site-specific

information provided by AERMET to compute vertical profiles of: 1) wind direction, 2) wind

speed, 3) temperature, 4) vertical potential temperature gradient, 5) vertical turbulence (Fw ) and

6) lateral turbulence (Fv ). 

For any one of these six variables (or parameters), the interface (in constructing the profile)

compares each height at which a meteorological variable must be calculated with the heights at

which observations were made and if it is below the lowest measurement or above the highest

measurement (or in some cases data is available at only one height), the interface computes an

appropriate value from selected PBL similarity profiling relationships. If data are available both

above and below a given height, an interpolation is performed which is based on both the

measured data and the shape of the computed profile (see Section 7.10). Thus the approach used

for profiling, simultaneously takes advantage of the information contained in both the

measurements and similarity parameterizations. As will be discussed, at least one level of

measured wind speed, wind direction, and temperature is required. However, turbulence profiles

can be parameterized without any direct turbulence measurements.

The following sections provide a comprehensive description of AERMOD’s profiling

equations and how these estimated profiles are used to extract pertinent layer-averaged

meteorology for AERMOD’s transport and dispersion calculations. Also, example profiles (one

typical of the CBL and one typical of the SBL) for the various parameters have been constructed

for illustration. The CBL case assumes that zi = 1000 m, L = -10 m and zo = 0.1 m (i.e., zo = 

0.0001zi and L = - 0.01zi

). The SBL case assumes that zi = 100 m, L = 10 m and zo = 0.1 m (i.e.,

zo = 0.001 zi and L = 0.1 zi). 

4.1 General Profiling Equations

4.1.1 WIND SPEED PROFILING

The AERMOD profile equation for wind speed, has the familiar logarithmic form:

At least one wind speed measurement, that is representative of the surface layer, is required

for each simulation with AERMOD. Since the logarithmic form does not adequately describe

the profile below the height of obstacles or vegetation, eq.(28) allows for a linear decrease in

wind speed from its value at 7zo.
25

Ψ

Ψ

m

m

o o

z

L

z

L

z

L

z

L

⎧

⎨

⎩

⎫

⎬

⎭ =− − −⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ⎡

⎣

⎢ ⎤

⎦

⎥

⎧

⎨

⎩

⎫

⎬

⎭ =− − −⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ⎡

⎣

⎢ ⎤

⎦

⎥

17 1 0 29

17 1 0 29

exp .

exp . .

(29)

 For the CBL, the Rm’s are evaluated using eq.(7) with zref replaced by z, and during stable

conditions they are calculated from van Ulden & Holtslag (1985) as

For small z/L (<<1) and with a series expansion of the exponential term, the first equation in (29)

reduces to the form given in eq. (12), i.e., with ψ β $m = 5. However, for large m m = − z L

z/L (>1) and heights as great as 200 m in the SBL, the Rm given by eq. (29) is found to fit wind

observations much better than the Rm given by eq.(12) (van Ulden and Holtslag 1985). Using the

example case parameter values Figure 3 and Figure 4 were constructed to illustrate the form of

the wind profiles used by AERMOD in the layers above and below 7zo.
26

 

0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0

u/u *

2

4

6

8

2

4

6

0.0001

0.0010

z/z i

7z o - CBL

7z o - SBL

Wind Speed

CBL

SBL

Figure 3: Wind speed profile, for both the CBL and SBL, in the region below 7Zo.
27

 

0.0 10.0 20.0 30.0 40.0 50.0 60.0

u/u *

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

z/z i

z i

Wind Speed

CBL

SBL

Figure 4 Wind speed profile, for both the CBL and SBL, in the region above 7Zo.

4.1.2 WIND DIRECTION PROFILES

For both the CBL & SBL wind direction is assumed to be constant with height both above

the highest and below the lowest measurements. For intermediate heights, AERMOD linearly

interpolates between measurements. At least one wind direction measurement is required for

each AERMOD simulation.

4.1.3 PROFILES OF THE POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE GRADIENT

Above the relatively shallow superadiabatic surface layer, the potential temperature gradient

in the well mixed CBL is taken to be zero. The gradient in the stable interfacial layer just above

the mixed layer is taken from the morning temperature sounding. This gradient is an important

factor in determining the potential for buoyant plume penetration into and above that layer. 
28

( )

∂ θ ( )

∂

θ

∂ θ

∂

θ

zk L for z m

z kz

z

L for m z m

= +

⎡

⎣

⎢ ⎤

⎦

⎥ ≤

= +

⎡

⎣

⎢ ⎤

⎦

⎥ < ≤

*

* .

2 1 5

2

2

1 5 2 100

(30)

∂ θ { } ( )

∂

∂ θ

∂ θ z

z

z

z z

z

mx mx

i

= −

⎡ −

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥ exp 0 44 . (31)

Above the interfacial layer, the gradient is typically constant and slightly stable. Although the

interfacial layer depth varies with time, for the purposes of determining the strength of the stable

stratification aloft, AERMET uses a fixed layer of 500 m to insure that a sufficient layer of the

morning sounding is sampled. A 500 m layer is also used by the CTDMPLUS model (Perry

1992) for this same calculation. This avoids strong gradients (unrealistic kinks) often present in

these data. For a typical mixed layer depth of 1000 m an interfacial layer depth of 500 m is

consistent with that indicated by Deardorff (1979). A constant value of 0.005 K m-1 above the

interfacial layer is used as suggested by Hanna and Chang (1991). Using the morning sounding

to compute the interfacial temperature gradient assumes that as the mixed layer grows

throughout the day, the temperature profile in the layer above zi

 changes little from that of the

morning sounding. Of course, this assumes that there is neither significant subsidence nor cold

or warm air advection occurring in that layer. Field measurements (e.g. Clarke et al. (1971)) of

observed profiles throughout the day lend support to this approach. These data point out the

relative invariance of upper level temperature profiles even during periods of intense surface

heating.

Below 100 m, in the SBL, AERMOD uses the definition of the potential temperature

gradient suggested by Dyer (1974) as well as Panofsky and Dutton (1984). That is,

Eq. (30) is similar to that of Businger et al. (1971). Above 100 m the form of the potential

temperature gradient, taken from Stull (1983) and van Ulden & Holtslag (1985) is 

where zmx = 100 m, and the constant 0.44 within the exponential term of z MAX z m i im θ = [ ] ;100

eq. (31) is inferred from typical profiles taken during the Wangara experiment (Andre and Mahrt

1982). For all z, M2/Mz is limited to a minimum of 0.002 K m-1 (Paine and Kendall 1993).

In the SBL if d2/dz measurements are available below100 m and above zo, then 2* is

calculated from eq. (30) using the value of M2/Mz at the lowest measurement level and zTref

replaced by the height of the M2/Mz measurements. The upper limit of 100 m for the vertical

temperature gradient measurements is consistent with that imposed by AERMET for wind speed

and temperature reference data used to determine similarity theory parameters such as the

friction velocity and the Monin-Obukhov length. Similarly, the lower limit of zo for the vertical

temperature gradient measurements is consistent with that imposed for reference temperature
29

θ { , z T }

g z

c Tref ref

msl

P

= +

(32)

data. If no measurements of M2/Mz are available, in that height range, then 2* is calculated by

combining eqs. (8) and (20). 2* is not used in the CBL.

Figure 5 shows the inverse height dependency of M2/Mz in the SBL. To create this curve we

assumed that: Zim=100 m; and therefore, Zi 2 =100 m; L=10 m; u*=.124, which is consistent with

a mixing height of 100 m; Tref = 293 K; and therefore based on eq. (11) 2* = 0.115 K. These

parameter values were chosen to represent a strongly stable boundary layer. Below 2 m M2/Mz is

persisted downward from its value of 0.228 K m-1 at 2m. Above 100 m M2/Mz is allowed to decay

exponentially with height.

 

0.000 0.200 0.400

d θ/dz (o K/m)

0

25

50

75

100

125

150

z (m)

Z i

2 m

Figure 5: Profile of potential temperature gradient for the SBL.

4.1.4 POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE PROFILING

For use in plume rise calculations, AERMOD develops the vertical profile of potential

temperature from its estimate of the temperature gradient profile First the model computes the

potential temperature at the reference height for temperature (i.e., zTref) as
30

θ θ

∂θ

∂ { } {} zz zz

+= + ∆ ∆ z (33)

σ σσ wT wc wm

2 22 = + (34)

( )

σ

σ

σ

wc

ic

ic

wc ic ic

wc

ic

ic

ic

z

z

w for z z

w for z z z

w

z z

z

for z z

2

2 3

2

2 2

2 2

16 01

0 35 01

0 35

6

= ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ⋅ ≤

= <≤

= −

⎡ −

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥ >

. .

. .

. exp

*

*

*

(35)

where and zbase z zz msl ref base = + is the user specified elevation for the base of the temperature

profile (i.e., meteorological tower). Then for both the CBL and SBL the potential temperature is

calculated as follows:

where is the average potential temperature gradient over the layer )z. Note that for z <

∂θ

∂z

zTref , )z is negative.

4.1.5 VERTICAL TURBULENCE CALCULATED

In the CBL, the vertical velocity variance or turbulence (F

 2

wT) is profiled using an expression

based on a mechanical or neutral stability limit (Fwm % u*) and a strongly convective limit (Fwc %

w*). The total vertical turbulence is given as:

This form is similar to one introduced by Panofsky et al. (1977) and included in other dispersion

models (e.g., Berkowicz et al. (1986), Hanna and Paine (1989), and Weil (1988a)).

The convective portion (F

 2

wc ) of the total variance is calculated as:

where the expression for z # 0.1 zic is the free convection limit (Panofsky et al. 1977), for

0.1zi < z # zic is the mixed-layer value (Hicks 1985), and for z > zic is a parameterization to

connect the mixed layer F

 2

wc to the assumed near-zero value well above the CBL. An example

profile of convective vertical turbulence described in eq. (35) is presented in Figure 6. 
31

σσσ wm wml wmr

22 2 = + . (36)

σ

σ

wml

i

i

wml i

u

z

z

for z z

for z z

= − ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ <

= ≥

13 1

0 0

1 2

.

.

* (37)

 

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6

σ wc /w * 

0.0

0.2

0.4

0.6

0.8

1.0

1.2

1.4

1.6

z/z i

.1z ic

z ic

Figure 6: Convective portion of the vertical turbulence in the CBL.

The mechanical turbulence (Fwm) is assumed to consist of a contribution from the boundary

layer (Fwml) and from a “residual layer” (Fwmr) above the boundary layer (z > zi

) such that,

This is done to satisfy the assumed decoupling between the turbulence aloft (z > zi

) and that at

the surface in the CBL shear layer, and to maintain a continuous variation of F

 2

wm with z near z =

zi. 

The expression for Fwml following the form of Brost et al. (1982) is

where the Fwml =1.3u* at z = 0 is consistent with Panofsky et al. (1977). 
32

Figure 7: Mechanical portion of the vertical turbulence in the CBL

Above the mixing height Fwmr is set equal to the average of measured values in the residual

layer above zi

. If measurements are not available, then Fwmr is taken as the default value of 0.02

u{zi}. The constant 0.02 is an assumed turbulence intensity iz ( = Fwm / u) for the very stable

conditions presumed to exist above zi (Briggs 1973). Within the mixed layer the residual

turbulence (Fwmr) is reduced linearly from its value at zi

 to zero at the surface. Figure 7 presents

the profile of the mechanical portion of the vertical turbulence in the CBL. The effect of

combining the residual and boundary layer mechanical turbulence (eq. (36)) can be seen in this

figure.

In the SBL the vertical turbulence contains only a mechanical portion which is given by eq. (36). 

The use of the same F

 2

wm expressions for the SBL and CBL is done to ensure continuity of

turbulence in the limit of neutral stability. Figure 8 illustrates AERMOD’s assumed vertical

turbulence profile for the SBL. This is similar to the profile for the CBL except for a notable

increase in the value of Fwmr. Since values for Fwmr are based on the magnitude of the wind speed
33

Figure 8: Profile of vertical turbulence in the SBL

σ σσ vT vc vm

2 22 = + . (38)

at zi, the differences in the two figures stem from setting zo = 0.0001zi in the CBL example case

while for the SBL case zo = 0.001zi

.

 

4.1.6 LATERAL TURBULENCE CALCULATED BY THE INTERFACE

In the CBL the total lateral turbulence, F

 2

vT, is computed as a combination of a mechanical

(Fvm) and convective (Fvc) portions such that

In the SBL the total lateral turbulence contains only a mechanical portion. AERMOD, uses the

same Fvm expression in the CBL and SBL. This is done to maintain continuity of Fvm in the limit

of neutral stability. A description of mechanical and convective profiles of lateral turbulence

follows.
34

{ }

{ }

σ

σ σ

σ

σ σ

vm

vm im vo

im

vo im

vm vm im im

z

z

z for z z

z for z z

2

2 2

2

2 2

=

⎡ −

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥ + ≤

= > ,

(40)

σ v0 Cu 2 2 = * (39)

4.1.6.1 Mechanical Portion of the Lateral Turbulence

The variation with height of the mechanical portion of the lateral turbulence is bounded by

its value at the surface and an assumed residual value at the top of the mechanical mixed layer. 

The variation between these two limits is assumed to be linear. Based on observations from

numerous field studies, Panofsky and Dutton (1984) report that, in purely mechanical turbulence,

the lateral variance near the surface has the form 

where the constant, C, ranges between 3 and 5. Based on an analysis of the Kansas data, Izumi 

(1971) and Hicks (1985) support the form of eq. (39) with a value of 3.6 for C. 

Between the surface and the top of the mechanically mixed layer, F

2

vm is assumed to vary 

linearly as

where and Fvo

2

σ σ { } [ ] , the surface value of the lateral turbulence, is vm im vo z MIN m s 2 2 22 = 0 25 − ; .

equal to 3.6 u*

2

. This linear variation of F

 2

vm with z is consistent with field observations (e.g.,

Brost et al. (1982)). In the SBL the total lateral turbulence contains only a mechanical portion

and it is given by eq. (40).

Above the mixed layer, lateral turbulence is expected to maintain a modest residual level. 

Hanna (1983) analyzed ambient measurements of lateral turbulence in stable conditions. He

found that even in the lightest wind conditions, the measurements of Fvc were typically 0.5 m s-1,

but were observed to be as low as 0.2 m s-1. AERMOD adopts the lower limit of 0.2 m s-1 for Fvc

in near-surface conditions, as discussed below, but uses the more typical value of 0.5 m s-1 for

the residual lateral turbulence above the mixed layer. Above the height of the CBL, the model

linearly decreases Fvc

2 from Fvc2

{ zic } to 0.25 at 1.2 zic and holds Fvc

2

 constant above 1.2 zic. 

However, if Fvc

2

{zic } < 0.25 m2 s-2, then Fvc

2

{zic } is persisted upward from zic. Furthermore, it

was found that a value of the order Fvc

2

 = 0.25 m2 s-2 provided consistently good model

performance (for plumes commonly above zim) during the developmental evaluation (Paine et al.

2001) supporting the presence of residual lateral turbulence in this layer.

Figure 9 shows how the vertical profile of lateral mechanical turbulence changes over a

range of mechanical mixing heights, and related friction velocities. The values of u* used to

produce these curves are consistent with the relationship between zim and u* which is found in eq.

(24). For the SBL Figure 9 represents profiles of the total lateral turbulence. In the CBL these

curves depict only the mechanical portion of the total lateral variance. Note that for zim = 300 m

and 100 m the values Fvo

2

 are less than 0.25 m2 s-2. Therefore the profiles are constant with

height. 
35

σ vc w

2 2 = 0 35 . * (41)

 

0.0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8

σ 2

vm (m2 / sec2 )

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

z (m)

Mixing Heights

Zim = 100 m

Zim = 200 m

Zim = 300 m

Zim = 400 m

Zim = 500 m

Zim = 600 m

Zim = 700 m

Figure 9: Family of lateral mechanical turbulence profiles over a range of

mechanical mixing heights

4.1.6.2 Convective Portion of the Lateral Turbulence

The convective portion of the lateral turbulence within the mixed is constant and calculated

as:

This constant value of is supported by the Minnesota data (Readings et al. 1974; σ vc w

2 2

* = 0 35 .

Kaimal et al. 1976) and by data collected at Ashchurch England (Caughey and Palmer 1979).
36

For z > zic , the model linearly decreases Fvc

2 from Fvc2

{ zic } to 0.25 at 1.2 zic and holds Fvc

2

constant above 1.2 zic. However, if Fvc

2

{zic } < .25 m2 s-2, then Fvc

2

{zic } is persisted upward from 

zic.

4.2 Vertical Inhomogeneity in the Boundary Layer as Treated by the INTERFACE

AERMOD is designed to treat the effects on dispersion from vertical variations in wind and

turbulence. Consideration of the vertical variation in meteorology is important for properly

modeling releases in layers with strong gradients, for capturing the effects of meteorology in

layers into which the plume may be vertically dispersing, and to provide a mechanism (in the

CBL) by which sources that are released into or penetrate into an elevated stable layer can

eventually re-enter the mixed layer. However, AERMOD is a steady-state plume model and

therefore can use only a single value of each meteorological parameter to represent the layer

through which these parameters are varying. Thus, the model "converts" the inhomogeneous

values into equivalent effective or homogeneous values. This technique is applied to u, FvT, FwT,

M2/Mz and the Lagrangian time scale. The effective parameters are denoted by a tilde throughout

the document (e.g., effective wind speed is denoted by ). ~u

Fundamental to this approach is the concept that the primary layer of importance, relative to

receptor concentration, is the one through which plume material travels directly from source to

receptor. Figure 10 presents a schematic illustration of the approach AERMOD uses to

determine these effective parameters (" is used to generically represent these parameters). The

effective parameters are determined by averaging their values over that portion of the layer that

contains plume material between the plume centroid height, Hp {x}, (a simplified surrogate for

the height of the plume’s center of mass) and the receptor height (zr). In other words, the

averaging layer is determined by the vertical half-depth of the plume (defined as 2.15 Fz {xr}

where xr is the distance from source to receptor) but is bounded by Hp {xr} and zr. The values

used in the averaging process are taken from AERMOD’s vertical profiles. This technique is

best illustrated with examples.
37

Figure 10:AERMOD’s Treatment of the Inhomogeneous Boundary Layer

Consider the two receptors depicted in Figure 10. Both receptors are located at the same

distance xr from the source but at different heights above ground, i.e., zr1 and zr2. An example

profile of some parameter " is shown at the far left of the figure. The value of the effective

parameter used by AERMOD to represent transport and diffusion from source to receptor

depends on the location of the receptor. For receptor 1 the effective parameter value ~

α 1

(shown in the figure as "eff1) is determined by averaging the values of " {z} between Hp {xr} and

zr1. Therefore, the layer over which this average is taken is smaller than the plume’s half-depth. 

Whereas, (shown in the figure as "eff2) is determined by averaging " {z} over the full layer ~

α2

from Hp {xr} down through a depth of 2.15Fz {xr} since the receptor is located below the defined

lower extent of the plume.

Since Fz {xr }depends on the effective values of FwT and u, the plume size is estimated by

first using the plume height values of FwT {Hp } and u {Hp } to calculate Fz {xr}. As illustrated in

Figure 10, Fz {xr} is then used to determine the layer over which and are ~

σ { } wT r x ~u x{ }r
38

( ) { } ~

α α = − ∫ 1

h h

z dz

t b h

h

b

t

(42)

{ } { }

{ } [ ] { } {} { }

{ } [ ] { } {} { }

{} {}

h

H x y if H x y z

MAX H x y x z if H x y z

h

MIN H x y x z if H x y z

H x y if H x y z

b

prr prr r

p r r z sr r p r r r

t

p r r z sr r p r r r

prr prr r

=

≤

− >

⎧

⎨

⎪

⎩

⎪

⎫

⎬

⎪

⎭

⎪

= + ≤

>

⎧

⎨

⎪

⎩

⎪

⎫

⎬

⎪

⎭

⎪

,, ,

, . ,, ,

, . ,, ,

,, ,

215

215

σ

σ

(43)

x F for F

x F for F

fb b

fb b

= <

= ≥

49 55

119 55

5 8

2 5 (44)

( ) x

rw u

f w u

ss p

s p

= 8 3 +

2 (45)

calculated. Once the averaging layer for a given plume and receptor is established the effective

values, , are computed as simple averages: ~

α

where hb and ht are the bottom and top, respectively, of the layer of importance such that:

For all plumes, both limits are bounded by either the zr or Hp. For both the direct and indirect

sources ht

, in eq. (43) is not allowed to exceed zi and if hb $ zi then . { } ~

α α= zi

For plumes in stable conditions and for the penetrated source in the CBL, Hp is always set

equal to the plume centerline height , where hs (∆ h h ) is the stack height corrected for stack s s +

tip downwash and )hs is the stable source plume rise. The stable source plume rise )hs is

calculated from expressions found in Section 5.6.2.

In the CBL, the specification of Hp is somewhat more complicated. Because of limited

mixing in the CBL the center of mass of the plume will be the plume height close to the source

and the mid-point of the PBL at the distance where it becomes well mixed. Beyond final plume

rise, Hp is varied linearly between these limits.

Prior to plume stabilization, i.e., x < xf (distance to plume stabilization),

, where )hd Hh h is the plume rise for the direct source (estimated from eq. (91)), p s dp = +∆ ,

and )hp (= hep - hs) is the plume rise for the penetrated source, where hep (penetrated source

plume height) is calculated from eq. (94).

The distance to plume stabilization, xf

 , is determined following Briggs (Briggs 1975; Briggs

1971) as

where the buoyancy flux (Fb) is calculated from eq. (57). 

For Fb = 0 the distance to final rise is calculated from the ISCST3 ((U.S.Environmental

Protection Agency 1995)) expression
39

x

u z

m

i

wT

= σ , (46)

( )

( ) H Hx

z

H x

x x

x x

p f

i

f

f

m f

= +−

⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ⋅ −

− {} {} 2 (47)

where up is the wind speed at source height, rs is the stack radius, and ws is the stack exit gas

velocity.

Beyond plume stabilization ( x>xf ), Hp varies linearly between the stabilized plume height

(H{xf}) and the mid-point of the mixed layer (zi /2). This interpolation is performed over the

distance range xf

 to xm, where xm is the distance at which pollutants first become uniformity

mixed throughout the boundary layer.

The distance xm is taken to be the product of the average mixed layer wind speed and the

mixing time scale, . That is, zi wT σ

where the averaging of u and FwT are taken over the depth of the boundary layer.

For distances beyond xf

 , Hp is assumed to vary linearly between the plume's stabilized

height, H {xf }, and zi /2 such that:

Note that in the CBL, both the direct and indirect source will have the same " (effective

parameter) values. In eq. (43) Fz is the average of the updraft Fz and the downdraft Fz , the

maximum value of ht

 is zi , and when hb $ zi , " = " {zi}.

As discussed previously, when multiple vertical measurements of wind direction are

available a profile is constructed by linearly interpolating between measurements and persisting

the highest and lowest measurements up and down, respectively. The approach taken for

selecting a transport wind direction from the profile is different from the above. The transport

wind direction is selected as the mid point of the range between stack height and the stabilized

plume height.
40

5 The AMS/EPA Regulatory Model AERMOD

AERMOD is a steady-state plume model in that it assumes that concentrations at all

distances during a modeled hour are governed by the temporally averaged meteorology of the

hour. The steady state assumption yields useful results since the statistics of the concentration

distribution are of primary concern rather than specific concentrations at particular times and

locations. AERMOD has been designed to handle the computation of pollutant impacts in both

flat and complex terrain within the same modeling framework. In fact, with the AERMOD

structure, there is no need for the specification of terrain type (flat, simple, or complex) relative

to stack height since receptors at all elevations are handled with the same general methodology. 

To define the form of the AERMOD concentration equations, it is necessary to simultaneously

discuss the handling of terrain.

In the stable boundary layer (SBL), the concentration distribution is assumed to be Gaussian

in both the vertical and horizontal. In the convective boundary layer (CBL), the horizontal

distribution is assumed to be Gaussian, but the vertical distribution is described with a biGaussian probability density function (pdf). This behavior of the concentration distributions in

the CBL was demonstrated by Willis and Deardorff (1981) and Briggs (1993). Additionally, in

the CBL, AERMOD treats “plume lofting,” whereby a portion of plume mass, released from a

buoyant source, rises to and remains near the top of the boundary layer before becoming

vertically mixed throughout the CBL. The model also tracks any plume mass that penetrates into

an elevated stable layer, and then allows it to re-enter the boundary layer when and if

appropriate. 

In urban areas, AERMOD accounts for the dispersive nature of the “convective-like”

boundary layer that forms during nighttime conditions by enhancing the turbulence over that

which is expected in the adjacent rural, stable boundary layer. The enhanced turbulence is the

result of the urban heat flux and associated mixed layer which are estimated from the urban-rural

temperature difference as suggested by Oke (1978; 1982).

In complex terrain, AERMOD incorporates the concept of the dividing streamline (Snyder

et al., 1985) for stably-stratified conditions. Where appropriate the plume is modeled as a

combination of two limiting cases: a horizontal plume (terrain impacting) and a terrain-following

(terrain responding) plume. That is, AERMOD handles the computation of pollutant impacts in

both flat and complex terrain within the same modeling framework. Generally, in stable flows, a

two-layer structure develops in which the lower layer remains horizontal while the upper layer

tends to rise over the terrain. The concept of a two-layer flow, distinguished at the dividing

streamline height (Hc), was first suggested by theoretical arguments of Sheppard (1956) and

demonstrated through laboratory experiments, particularly those of Snyder et al. (1985). In

neutral and unstable conditions Hc = 0. 

A plume embedded in the flow below Hc tends to remain horizontal; it might go around the

hill or impact on it. A plume above Hc will ride over the hill. Associated with this is a tendency

for the plume to be depressed toward the terrain surface, for the flow to speed up, and for vertical

turbulent intensities to increase. These effects in the vertical structure of the flow are accounted

for in models such as the Complex Terrain Dispersion Model (CTDMPLUS) (Perry 1992). 

However, because of the model complexity, input data demands for CTDMPLUS are

considerable. EPA policy (Code of Federal Regulations 1997) requires the collection of wind
41

C x yz fC x yz fC x yz ( ) T r r r cs r r r cs r r p {, ,} {, ,} {, ,} , , =⋅ +− 1 (48)

and turbulence data at plume height when applying CTDMPLUS in a regulatory application. As

previously stated, the model development goals for AERMOD include having methods that

capture the essential physics, provide plausible concentration estimates, and demand reasonable

model inputs while remaining as simple as possible. Therefore, AERMIC arrived at a terrain

formulation in AERMOD that considers vertical flow distortion effects in the plume, while

avoiding much of the complexity of the CTDMPLUS modeling approach. Lateral flow

channeling effects on the plume are not considered by AERMOD.

AERMOD captures the effect of flow above and below the dividing streamline by weighting

the plume concentration associated with two possible extreme states of the boundary layer

(horizontal plume and terrain-following). As is discussed below, the relative weighting of the

two states depends on: 1) the degree of atmospheric stability; 2) the wind speed; and 3) the

plume height relative to terrain. In stable conditions, the horizontal plume "dominates" and is

given greater weight while in neutral and unstable conditions, the plume traveling over the

terrain is more heavily weighted. 

5.1 General Structure of AERMOD Including Terrain

In general, AERMOD models a plume as a combination of two limiting cases: a horizontal

plume (terrain impacting) and a terrain-following plume. Therefore, for all situations, the total

concentration, at a receptor, is bounded by the concentration predictions from these states. In

flat terrain the two states are equivalent. By incorporating the concept of the dividing

streamline height, in elevated terrain, AERMOD’s total concentration is calculated as a weighted

sum of the concentrations associated with these two limiting cases or plume states(Venkatram et

al. 2001).

The AERMOD terrain pre-processor (AERMAP) uses gridded terrain data to calculate a

representative terrain-influence height (hc) for each receptor with which AERMOD computes

receptor specific Hc values. Through this approach, AERMOD handles the computation of

pollutant impacts in both flat and elevated terrain within the same modeling framework thereby

obviating the need to differentiate between the formulations for simple and complex terrain (as

required with previous regulatory models) . 

The general concentration equation, which applies in stable or convective conditions is

given by

where is the total concentration, is the contribution from the C xyz T r rr {, ,} C xyz cs r r r , {, ,}

horizontal plume state (subscripts c and s refer to convective and stable conditions, respectively),

C xyz cs r r p , {, ,} is the contribution from terrain-following state, f is the plume state weighting

function, is the coordinate representation of a receptor (with zr {, ,} xyz defined relative to r rr

stack base elevation), is the height of a receptor above local ground, and zt z zz p rt = − is the

terrain height at a receptor. Note that in flat terrain, , , and the concentration zt = 0 z z p r =

(eq. (48)) reduces to the form for a single horizontal plume. It is important to note that for any
42

1 2 ( ) 2 2 / {} . ⋅= − ∫ u H N h z dz c c

H

h

c

c

(49)

concentration calculation all heights (z) are referenced to stack base elevation. Figure 11

illustrates the relationship between the actual plume and AERMOD’s characterization of it.

 

Figure 11: AERMOD Two State Approach. The total concentration predicted by

AERMOD is the weighted sum of the two extreme possible plume states.

 

The formulation of the weighting factor requires the computation of Hc. Using the receptor

specific terrain height scale (hc) from AERMAP, Hc is calculated from the same algorithms

found in CTDMPLUS as:

where u {Hc} is the wind speed at height Hc, and is the Brunt-Vaisala frequency. N g

z = ⎡

⎣

⎢ ⎤

⎦

⎥ θ

∂ θ

∂

1 2

The height scale, hc, characterizes the height of the surrounding terrain that most dominates the

flow in the vicinity of the receptor.

The weighting between the two states of the plume depends on the relationship between Hc

and the vertical concentration distribution at the receptor location. Assuming that the wind
43

φ p

s r rr

H

s r rr

C x y z dz

C x y z dz

c

= ∫

∫

∞

{, ,}

{, ,}

0

0

(50)

speed increases with height, Hc can be thought of as the level in the stable atmosphere where the

flow has sufficient kinetic energy to overcome the stratification and rise to the height of the

terrain. However, in determining the amount of plume material in the terrain-following state at a

receptor, it is only important to know the lowest height in the flow where the kinetic energy is

sufficient for a streamline to just maintain its height above the surface, i.e. terrain-following. 

Whether it will be deflected further and reach the top of some specified hill is not important for

determining the amount of plume material in the terrain-following state for this receptor. 

Venkatram et al. (2001) first proposed the idea that for real terrain, often characterized by a

number of irregularly-shaped hills, Hc should be defined in relation to a terrain-following height

at each receptor location. This is in contrast to the more classical definition where Hc is defined

in relation to the top of a single representative hill upon which may reside many receptor

locations.

In the AERMOD approach, plume height, receptor elevation, and Hc will determine how

much plume material resides in each plume state. For a receptor at elevation zt and an effective

plume at height he the height that the streamlines must reach to be in the terrain-following state is

zt+he . Therefore the terrain height of importance, hc, in determining Hc is simply equal to this

local terrain-following height. Any actual terrain above hc = zt

 + he is of no consequence to the

concentration at the receptor. This receptor and plume dependent approach to computing Hc

assumes that there is sufficient terrain affecting the flow near the receptor to vertically force the

streamlines to the terrain-following level. If the actual surrounding terrain does not reach the

height of the terrain-following state, hc is calculated from the highest actual terrain height in the

vicinity of the receptor. Therefore, for any receptor, hc is defined as the minimum of the highest

actual terrain and the local terrain-following height. Given hc, the dividing streamline height is

computed with the same integral formula found in the CTDMPLUS model. 

The fraction of the plume mass below Hc (i.e., np) is computed as:

where is the concentration in the absence of the hill for stable conditions. In Cxyz s r rr {, ,}

convective conditions, H and c p = 0 0 φ = .

As described by Venkatram et al. (2001), the plume state weighting factor f is given by

. When the plume is entirely below Hc f = + 05 1 . ( ) φ p (φ ) the concentration p = = 10 10 . . and f

is determined only by the horizontal plume. When the plume is entirely above the critical

dividing streamline height or when the atmosphere is either neutral or convective,

φ Therefore, during convective conditions the concentration at an elevated p = = 0 05 and f . .

receptor is simply the average of the contributions from the two states. As plumes above Hc

encounter terrain and are deflected vertically, there is also a tendency for plume material to

approach the terrain surface and to spread out around the sides of the terrain. To simulate this

the estimated concentration is constrained to always contain a component from the horizontal

state. Therefore, under no conditions is the plume allowed to completely approach the terrain-
44

Cxyz Qu P yx P zx ( ) y z {, ,} ~ = { ; } { ; }, (51)

following state. For flat terrain, the contributions from the two states are equal, and are equally

weighted.

Figure 12 illustrates how the weighting factor is constructed and its relationship to the

estimate of concentration as a weighted sum of two limiting plume states.

Figure 12: Treatment of Terrain in AERMOD. Construction of the weighting factor used in

calculating total concentration.

The general form of the expressions for concentration in each term of eq. (48) for both the

CBL and the SBL can be written as follows:

where Q is the source emission rate, is the effective wind speed, and py and pz are probability ~u

density functions (pdf) which describe the lateral and vertical concentration distributions,

respectively. AERMOD assumes a traditional Gaussian pdf for both the lateral and vertical

distributions in the SBL and for the lateral distribution in the CBL. The CBL’s vertical

distribution of plume material reflects the distinctly non-Gaussian nature of the vertical velocity
45

distribution in convectively mixed layers. The specific form for the concentration distribution in

the CBL is found in eq. (54) which uses the notation Cc {xr, yr, zr}. Similarly, in the SBL, the

concentration takes the form of eq. (67) and used the notation Cs {xr, yr, zr}.

AERMOD simulates five different plume types depending on the atmospheric stability and

on the location in and above the boundary layer: 1) direct, 2) indirect, 3) penetrated, 4) injected

and 5) stable. All of these plumes will be discussed, in detail, throughout the remainder of this

document. During stable conditions, plumes are modeled with the familiar horizontal and

vertical Gaussian formulations. During convective conditions (L<0) the horizontal distribution

is still Gaussian; the vertical concentration distribution results from a combination of three

plume types: 1) the direct plume material within the mixed layer that initially does not interact

with the mixed layer lid; 2) the indirect plume material within the mixed layer that rises up and

tends to initially loft near the mixed layer top; and 3) the penetrated plume material that is

released in the mixed layer but, due to its buoyancy, penetrates into the elevated stable layer.

During convective conditions, AERMOD also handles a special case referred to as an

injected source where the stack top (or release height) is greater than the mixing height. Injected

sources are modeled as plumes in stable conditions, however the influence of the turbulence and

the winds within the mixed layer are considered in the inhomogeneity calculations as the plume

material passes through the mixed layer to reach receptors.

As described above, AERMOD accounts for the vertical variation of meteorology through

the use of effective values of wind speed, turbulence, and the Lagrangian time scale. Being a

steady state plume model, AERMOD uses a single value of each meteorological variable to

represent the state of the dispersive layer for each modeling period (typically one hour). 

Specifically, the effective parameters are determined by averaging values from the meteorological 

profile within the layer between the plume’s center of mass and the receptor. Effective variables

or parameters are denoted by an overbar tilde (e.g. ). ~u

5.2 Concentration Predictions in the CBL

In AERMOD, the dispersion formulation for the convective boundary layer (CBL) represents

one of the more significant model advances by comparison with existing regulatory models. One

assumes that plume sections are emitted into a traveling train of convective elements - updrafts

and downdrafts - that move with the mean wind. The vertical and lateral velocities in each

element are assumed to be random variables and characterized by their probability density

functions (pdf). The mean concentration is found from the pdf of the position of source-emitted

“particles”; this position pdf in turn is derived from the pdf of the lateral and vertical velocities as

described by Weil et al. (1997); also see Misra (1982), Venkatram (1983), and Weil (1988a).

In the CBL, the pdf of the vertical velocity (w) is positively skewed and results in a nonGaussian vertical concentration distribution, Fz (Lamb 1982). The positive skewness is consistent

with the higher frequency of occurrence of downdrafts than updrafts; for an elevated non-buoyant

source the skewness also leads to the decent of the plume centerline, as defined by the locus of

maximum concentration (Lamb 1982; Weil 1988a). Figure 13 presents a schematic

representation of an instantaneous plume in a convective boundary layer and its corresponding

ensemble average. The base concentration prediction in AERMOD is representative of a one

hour average. Notice that since a larger percentage of the instantaneous plume is effected by
46

downdrafts, the ensemble average has a general downward trend. Since downdrafts are more

prevalent the average velocity of the downdrafts is correspondingly weaker than the average

updraft velocity to insure that mass is conserved. In AERMOD, a skewed vertical velocity pdf is

modeled using a bi-Gaussian distribution, which has been shown to be a good approximation to

laboratory convection tank data (Baerentsen and Berkowicz 1984). In contrast to the vertical

component, the lateral velocity pdf is approximately Gaussian (Lamb 1982), and this pdf and the

resulting concentration distribution, Fy, are assumed to be Gaussian.

 

Figure 13: Instantaneous and corresponding ensemble-averaged plume in the CBL

In addition to the non-Gaussian Fz, AERMOD has the following features. For buoyant

releases, there is no “final” plume rise assumed. Instead, the plume or particle trajectories are

determined by the addition of a distance-dependent plume rise and the random vertical

displacement caused by the vertical distribution of w. Ground level concentrations first appear

when the negative or downdraft velocities are sufficiently large to overcome the plume rise

velocity and carry plume sections to the surface. The direct transport of plume material to the
47

ground is treated by the “direct” source located at the stack. That is, the direct source treats that

portion of the plume’s mass to first reach the ground, and all subsequent reflections of the mass at

z = zi

 and 0 (where zi is the mixed layer height in the CBL (Cimorelli et al., 2004). For plume

segments or particles initially rising in updrafts, an “indirect” or modified-image source is

included (above the mixed layer) to address the initial quasi-reflection of plume material at z = zi,

i.e., for material that does not penetrate the elevated inversion. This source is labeled “indirect”

because it is not a true image source (i.e., as is found in models such as ISC) - the plume is not

perfectly reflected about zi. Thus, the indirect source treats that portion of the plume’s mass that

first reaches zi and all subsequent reflections of that particular mass at z = 0 and zi, For the

indirect source, a plume rise ()hi) is added to delay the downward dispersion of material from the

CBL top (see Figure 14); this mimics the plume’s lofting behavior, i.e., the tendency of buoyant

plumes to remain temporarily near zi and resist downward mixing. For non-buoyant sources the

indirect source reduces to the first image source (as found in ISCST3) resulting from the first

reflection at z = zi. Additionally, a “penetrated” source or plume (above the CBL top) is included

to account for material that initially penetrates the elevated inversion but is subsequently

reentrained by and disperses in the growing CBL.

Figure 14: AERMOD’s Three Plume Treatment of the CBL
48

zh h

wx

u c s =+ + ∆ , (52)

( ) ( )

p

ww ww

w

w w w w

= − − ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟ + − − ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

λ

πσ σ

λ

πσ σ

1

1

1

2

1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2 2 2 2 2 exp exp , (53)

In line with the above concepts there are three main mathematical sources that contribute to

the modeled concentration field: 1) the direct source (at the stack), 2) the indirect source, and 3)

the penetrated source. The strength of the direct source is fpQ, where Q is the source emission

rate and fp is the calculated fraction of the plume mass trapped in the CBL (0 # fp # 1). Likewise,

the indirect source strength is fpQ since this (modified image) source is included to satisfy the noflux boundary condition at z = zi

 for the trapped material. The strength of the penetrated source is

(1- fp)Q, which is the fraction of the source emission that initially penetrates into the elevated

stable layer. In addition to the three main sources, other image sources are included to satisfy the

no-flux conditions at z = 0 and zi

.

For material dispersing within a convective layer, the conceptual picture (see Figure 13) is a

plume embedded within a field of updrafts and downdrafts that are sufficiently large to displace

the plume section within it. The relationship between the particle (or air parcel) height, zc and w

is found by superposing the plume rise ()h) and the vertical displacement due to w (i.e., wx/u), as

where hs is the stack height (corrected for stack tip downwash), u is the mean wind speed (a

vertical average over the convective boundary layer) and x is the downwind distance. The )h

above includes source momentum and buoyancy effects as given by eq. (91) below (see Briggs

(1984)). The Fz or pdf of zc is found from the vertical velocity pdf pw as described in Weil et al.

(1997). In the CBL a good approximation to pw is the superposition of two Gaussian distributions

(Baerentsen and Berkowicz 1984; Weil 1988a) such that

where 81 and 82 are weighting coefficients for the two distributions with 81 + 82 = 1(the subscripts

1 and 2 refer to the updraft and downdraft distributions, respectively). The parameters of the pdf

(w1, w2, Fw1, Fw2, 81, 82) are functions of Fw (the “total” or overall root mean square vertical

turbulent velocity), the vertical velocity skewness (where is the third moment of S w = w

3 3 σ w

3

w), and a parameter . An expanded discussion of the pdf Rw w w w = =− = σ σ 11 2 2 2

parameters is given in Weil et al. (1997).

The instantaneous plume is assumed to have a Gaussian concentration distribution about its

randomly varying centerline. The mean or average concentration is found by summing the

concentrations due to all of the random centerline displacements. This averaging process results

in a skewed distribution which AERMOD represents as a bi-Gaussian pdf (i.e., one for updrafts

and the other for downdrafts). Figure 15 illustrates the bi-Gaussian approach to approximate the

skewed vertical concentration distribution in the CBL. The figure shows two mean trajectories,

each representing the average of many individual trajectories of parcels (or particles) released into

downdrafts (the downdraft plume) or updrafts (the updraft plume). The velocities determining

these mean trajectories are: 1) the mean horizontal wind speed (u), 2) the vertical velocity due to
49

plume buoyancy (vbuoy), and 3) the mean updraft ( ) or downdraft ( ) velocity. The mean w1 w2

height of each trajectory or , can be found by averaging eq. z (53). These parcel (or c1 zc2

particle) height distributions are thus related to concentration and are characterized by Fz1 (=

Fw1x/u) and Fz2 (= Fw2x/u), the standard deviations of the two concentration distributions

comprising the bi-Gaussian form as derived in Weil et al. (1997).

 

Figure 15: AERMOD’s pdf approach for plume dispersion in the CBL. 

AERMOD approximates the skewed distribution by superimposing two

Gaussian distributions, the updraft and downdraft distributions.

Figure 16 compares the bi-Gaussian pdf with the Gaussian form, which is symmetric about

w = 0. As can be seen, for the negative and positive tails of the distributions, the bi-Gaussian pdf

is biased towards smaller and larger pw values, respectively, than the Gaussian. In addition, for

the bi-Gaussian forms, approximately 60% of the area under the pw curve is on the negative side

of the w axis and approximately 40% on the positive side. This is consistent with the results of

numerical simulations and field observations (Lamb 1982; Weil 1988a).
50

 

Figure 16: Probability density functon of the vertical velocity. While the Gaussian

curve is unskewed the bi-Gaussian curve has a skewness of S = 1.

In the pdf approach used here (Weil et al. 1997), there are, as mentioned in the previous

section, three primary sources that contribute to the modeled concentration field: 1) the “direct”

or real source at the stack, 2) an “indirect” source that the model locates above the CBL top to

account for the slow downward dispersion of buoyant plumes that “loft” or remain near, but

below, zi

 , and 3) a “penetrated source” that contains the portion of plume material that has

penetrated into the stable layer above zi

. The direct source describes the dispersion of plume

material that reaches the ground directly from the source via downdrafts. The indirect source is

included to treat the first interaction of the “updraft” plume with the elevated inversion - that is,

for plume sections that initially rise to the CBL top in updrafts and return to the ground via

downdrafts. Image sources are added to treat the subsequent plume interactions with the ground

and inversion and to satisfy the zero-flux conditions at z = 0 and at z = zi

. This source plays the

same role as the first image source above zi in the standard Gaussian model, but differs in the

treatment of plume buoyancy. For the indirect source, a modified reflection approach is adopted

in which the vertical velocity is reflected at z = zi

, but an “indirect” source plume rise )hi is added

to delay the downward dispersion of plume material from the CBL top. This is intended to mimic

the lofting behavior. The penetrated source is included to account for material that initially

penetrates the elevated inversion but subsequently can reenter the CBL via turbulent mixing of
51

Cxyz C xyz Cxyz C xyz c r rr d r rr r r rr p r rr { , , } { , , } { , , } { , , }, = + + (54)

f if h h

f if h h

f

h

h if h h h

p h eq

p h eq

p

h

eq

eq h eq

= <

= >

= − ≤≤

0 05

1 15

05 05 15

∆ ∆

∆ ∆

∆

∆ ∆∆ ∆

.

.

. . ..

(55)

∆ ∆ hP h eq s h = + (26 2 3 ( ) ) 3 3 1 3. (56)

F gw r

T

T b ss

s

= 2 ∆

(57)

{ } N g

z z

h

i z zi

=

⎡

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

θ > ⎥

∂ θ

∂

1 2

. (58)

the plume and eventual reentrainment into the CBL. Figure 14 illustrates this three plume

approach; a fundamental feature of AERMOD’s convective model. In AERMOD, the total

concentration (Cc) in the CBL is found by summing the contribution from the three sources. For

the horizontal plume state, the Cc is given by

where Cd, Cr, and Cp are the contributions from the direct, indirect and penetrated sources,

respectively. The total concentration for the terrain-following state has the form of eq. (54) but

with zr replaced by zp.

The fraction fp of the source material that remains trapped in the CBL is found from

where )hh = zi

 - hs, and )heq is the equilibrium plume rise in a stable environment. The )heq

has the form Berkowicz et al. (1986)

where: is the penetration parameter, and the stack buoyancy flux (Fb P F uN h ), and s b hh = 2 3 ∆

Brunt-Vaisala frequency (Nh) are given respectively by

and

Here, u is the wind speed at stack height; g is the gravitational acceleration; ws, rs,

, and Ts are the

stack exit velocity, radius, and temperature, respectively; and 2 is the ambient potential

temperature. The Nh in eq. (58) is based on the potential temperature gradient in the elevated

stable layer, provided by AERMET, capping the CBL. In general this layer is within zi

 and zi +

500 m.
52

( ) ( ) C xyz

Qf

u

F

z mz z mz

drr

p

y

j

zj

dj i

zj

dj i

j m zj

{ , ,} ~ =⋅ − exp exp , − − ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟ + −

+ + ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟

⎡

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥

⎥ =

∞

=

∑ ∑ 2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1 0

2

π

λ

σ σ σ

Ψ Ψ

(59)

Ψ ∆ dj s d

j

h h

w x

u

=+ + , (60)

λ

λ

1

2

2 1

2

2 1

2

1

2 1

1

2 1

= + − = + −

= − − = − −

w

w w

a

a a

w

w w

a

a a

(61)

a

w

S

S

a

w

S

S

wT

wT

1

2 2

1 2

2

2 2

1 2

2

1

2

4

2

1

2

4

= ++

⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

= −+

⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

~

~

*

*

σ α

α β

σ α

α β

(62)

5.2.1 DIRECT SOURCE CONTRIBUTION TO CONCENTRATION CALCULATIONS IN

THE CBL

Following Weil et al. (1997), the concentration due to the direct plume is given by:

where

u is the wind speed at stack top, is the lateral distribution function with F

y

y

y y

= ⎛ −

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

1

2 2

2

2 πσ σ

exp

meander (discussed in Section 5.4), (aj is defined below in eq.(62) , )hd w aw is the direct j j = *

source plume rise calculated from eq. (91), and z = zr and zp in the horizontal and terrainfollowing states, respectively. Here, Qdj and Fzj are the effective source height and vertical

dispersion parameter corresponding to each of the two distributions in eq. (53). The subscript j is

equal to 1 for updrafts and 2 for downdrafts. The lateral and vertical dispersion parameters (Fy and

Fzj), resulting from the combined effects of ambient, buoyancy-induced, and building-induced

turbulence are calculated as discussed in Sections 5.5.1.1 and 5.5.1.2 respectively. Here, Fzj (with

j = 1 or 2) is the vertical dispersion parameter corresponding to each of the Gaussian distributions

used in the bi-Gaussian pdf, (see Section 5.5.1.2) and 8j

, the weighting coefficient for each

distribution in eq.(53), is calculated from Weil et al. (1997) as 

where
53

w

w

for H x z

w

w

H x

z

for H x z

p i

p

i

p i

3

3

3

3

0125 01

125 01

*

*

. {} .

. { }{} .

= ≥

= <

(63)

( )

α

β

σ

= +

+

= +

= ≡

1

1 3

1

2

2

2

3 3

3

R

R

R

S

w w

w

Skewness factor

wT

*

*

~ ,

(64)

( ) ( ) Cxyz

Qf

u

F

z mz z mz

rrr

p

y

j

zj

rj i

zj

rj i

j m zj

{ , ,} ~ = ⋅⋅ − exp exp ,

+ − ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟ + −

− + ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟

⎡

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥

⎥ =

∞

=

∑ ∑ 2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

1 1

2

π

λ

σ σ σ

Ψ Ψ

(65)

Recall that is the total effective vertical turbulence and is calculated from eq. (34). The ~

σ wT

parameters appearing in eq.(62) are given by

where,

and R is assumed to be 2.0 (Weil et al., 1997). Likewise, the term in eq. w xu (60) follows j

from the Fz derivation and the w& j appearing in the bi-Gaussian form (see discussion of eq. (53)) . 

The lateral dispersion parameter (Fy,) is calculated from eq. (75) (Weil et al., 1997).

In eq. (59), an image plume is used to satisfy the no-flux condition at the ground, i.e., an

image plume from a source at z = -hs, which results in the exponential terms containing z +Qdj on

the right-hand side of eq. (59). This image source results in a positive flux of material at z = zi,

and additional image sources are introduced at z = 2 zi + hs, -2 zi - hs, 4zi + hs, -4zi - hs, etc. to

satisfy all the subsequent no-flux conditions occurring at z = 0 and zi

.

5.2.2 INDIRECT SOURCE CONTRIBUTION TO CONCENTRATION CALCULATIONS

IN THE CBL

The concentration due to the indirect source is calculated from:

where Qrj = Qdj - )hi, and z is either zr.(for the horizontal plume state) or zp (for the terrainfollowing state). As shown in Figure 14, the indirect plume is modeled as a reflected version of

the direct plume with an adjustment ()hi

 - calculated from eq. (92)) to the reflected plume height

to account for the delay in vertical mixing due to plume lofting at the top of the boundary layer. 
54

( ) ( ) ( ) C xyz

Q f

u

F

z h mz z h mz

prr

p

zp

y

ep ieff

zp

ep ieff

m zp

{ , ,} ~ = exp exp − ⋅ − − + ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟ + −

+ + ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟

⎡

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥

⎥ =−∞

∞

∑ 1

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

π σ σ σ

(66)

( ) ( ) Cxyz Q

u

F

z h mz z h mz

srr

zs

y

es ieff

zs

es ieff

m zs

{ , ,} ~ = ⋅⋅ − exp exp , − − ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟ + −

+ + ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟

⎡

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥

⎥ =−∞

∞

∑ 2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

2

π σ σ σ

(67)

5.2.3 PENETRATED SOURCE CONTRIBUTION TO CONCENTRATION

CALCULATIONS IN THE CBL

For the penetrated source the concentration expression has a Gaussian form in both the

vertical and lateral directions. The concentration due to this source is given by:

where zieff is the height of the upper reflecting surface in a stable layer (see Section 5.3) and z is

either zr for the horizontal plume state or zp for the terrain-following state. The vertical dispersion

parameters (Fzp) are calculated as described in Section 5.5.1.2.

The penetrated plume height, hep, is taken as the height of the plume centroid above the

mixed layer and is calculated from eq. (94).

5.3 Concentrations in the SBL

For stable conditions, the AERMOD concentration expression (Cs in eq. (48)) has the

Gaussian form, and is similar to that used in many other steady-state plume models (e.g., HPDM

(Hanna and Paine 1989)). The Cs is given by

where zieff is the effective mechanical mixed layer height, Fzs is the total vertical dispersion in the

SBL (see discussion in Section 5.5), and hes is the plume height (i.e., stack height plus the plume

rise - see Section 5.6.2). 

Above the mechanical mixed layer height, zim (eq. (26)), the turbulence level is generally

expected to be small and thus supports little vertical mixing of the plume. AERMOD is designed

(in the SBL) with an effective mixing lid, zieff, that retards but does not prevent plume material

from spreading into the region above the estimated mechanical mixed layer. When the final

plume height is well below zim, the plume does not interact with zim. When the plume is below zim

yet the “upper edge” (plume height plus 2.15 Fzs) of the stabilized plume reaches zim, the effective

mixing lid is allowed to increase and remain at a level near the upper edge of the plume. In this

way, AERMOD allows the plume to disperse downwards, but where the turbulence aloft is low,

vertical plume growth is limited by an effective reflecting surface that is folding back only the

extreme tail of the vertical plume distribution. There is no strong concentration doubling effect as

occurs with reflections from an assumed hard lid. Downward dispersion is primarily a factor of

Fw averaged from the receptor to the plume height. If the plume height is above the mixed layer

height, the calculation of the effective Fw will include regions in which Fw is likely to be small. 

This, in effect, retards plume growth by an amount dependent upon how much of the plume is
55

z MAX h h z ieff es zs es im = + [( 215 . { }; . σ )] (68)

FyC

y

y y

= ⎛ −

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

1

2 2

2

2 πσ σ

exp (69)

F

x yR

r

= 1

2π . (70)

above zim. Therefore, whether the plume is above or below zim, the region of low turbulence above

zim will have an appropriate effect on the concentration distribution within the mixing layer.

When the plume buoyancy carries the rising plume into the relatively non-turbulent layer

above zim, the reflecting surface is still placed at 2.15 Fzs above the effective plume height because

there will be plume spread due to plume buoyancy and downward mixing is still important. 

Therefore, in the SBL, plume material is assumed to reflect off an elevated surface which is

defined as:

where Fzs in eq. (68) is determined from equations found in Section 5.5.1.2 with FwT and u

evaluated at hes; not as an effective parameter. It is important to note that zieff depends on

downwind distance since Fzs is distance dependent. In fact, as eq. (68) suggests, this effective

reflecting surface is only folding back the extreme tail of the upward distribution. Also, if the

height of the receptor zr $ zieff then the effective reflecting surface is not considered. This

approach is also implemented for the penetrated source. For the penetrated and injected sources

zieff is calculated using eq. (68) with Fzs and hes replaced by Fzp and hep respectively.

5.4 Treatment of Lateral Plume Meander

In AERMOD we include the effect that lower-frequency, non-diffusing eddies (i.e., meander)

have on plume concentration. Meander (or the slow lateral back and forth shifting of the plume)

decreases the likelihood of seeing a coherent plume after long travel times. This effect on plume

concentration could best be modeled with a particle trajectory model, since these models estimate

the concentration at a receptor by counting the number of times a particle is seen in the receptor

volume. However, as a simple steady state model, AERMOD is not capable of producing such

information. AERMOD accounts for meander by interpolating between two concentration limits:

the coherent plume limit (which assumes that the wind direction is distributed about a welldefined mean direction with variations due solely to lateral turbulence) and the random plume

limit, (which assumes an equal probability of any wind direction). 

For the coherent plume, the horizontal distribution function (FyC) has the familiar Gaussian

form:

where Fy is the lateral dispersion parameter (see Section 5.5). For the random plume limit, the

wind direction (and plume material) is uniformly distributed through an angle of 2B. Therefore,

the horizontal distribution function FyR takes the simple form:
56

CC C c s Ch r h R r h , =− + (1 ) ( ) 22 22 σσ σσ (71)

σ σ h v u

2 2 2 = + 2 ~ (72)

σ σ r v

r

r

u

x

uT

2 2 2 = +− 2 1 ⎛ −

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ~ exp ~ , (73)

where xr is radial distance to the receptor. Although the form of the vertical distribution function

remains unchanged for the two plumes, its magnitude is based on downwind distance for the

coherent plume and radial distance for the random plume.

Once the two concentration limits (CCh - coherent plume; CR - random plume) have been

calculated, the total concentration for stable or convective conditions (Cc,s) is determined by

interpolation. Interpolation between the coherent and random plume concentrations is

accomplished by assuming that the total horizontal “energy” is distributed between the wind’s

mean and turbulent components. That is,

where Fh

2

 is a measure of the total horizontal wind energy and Fr

2

 is a measure of the random

component of the wind energy. Therefore, the ratio Fr

2

/Fh

2

 is an indicator of the importance of the

random component and can therefore be used to weight the two concentrations as done in eq.

(71).

The horizontal wind is composed of a mean component , and random components Fu u and

Fv. Thus, a measure of the total horizontal wind “energy” (given that the alongwind and

crosswind fluctuations are assumed equal i.e., Fu = Fv), can be represented as 

where . The random energy component is initially and becomes equal to Fh

2

u u( ) at = − v

~ ~ / 2 2 1 2

2σ 2 ~2 σ v

large travel times from the source when information on the mean wind at the source becomes

irrelevant to the predictions of the plume’s position. The evolution of the random component of

the horizontal wind energy can be expressed as

where Tr is a time scale (= 24 hrs) at which mean wind information at the source is no longer

correlated with the location of plume material at a downwind receptor. Analyses involving

autocorrelation of wind statistics (Brett and Tuller 1991) suggest that after a period of

approximately one complete diurnal cycle, plume transport is “randomized.” Equation (73)

shows that at small travel times, , while at large times (or distances) , σ σ r v

2 2 = 2 ~ σ σ r v u 2 22 = + 2 ~

which is the total horizontal kinetic energy (Fh

2

) of the fluid. Therefore, the relative contributions

of the coherent and random horizontal distribution functions (eq. (71)) are based on the fraction of

random energy contained in the system (i.e., ). σ σ r h

2 2

The application of eq. (71) is relatively straight forward in the SBL. Since concentrations in

the SBL are represented as a single plume, Cs can be calculated directly from eq. (71). By

contrast for convective conditions the situation is complicated by the inclusion of plume

penetration. Since Fr

2

 depends on the effective parameters (eq. (73)), the concentration weighting

factors found in eq. (71) will be different for the non-penetrated and penetrated plumes of the
57

( ) σ

σ

σ

σ

σ

σ r

h CBL

p

r

h P

p

r

h NP

f f

2

2

2

2

2

= ⋅ +− ⋅ 1 2 (74)

σσ σ y z ya za b , , , 22 2 = + (75)

CBL. This is handled by combining the penetrated and non-penetrated weighting factors (Fr

2

/Fh

2

|

P

and Fr

2

/Fh

2

|

NP) into a single effective factor (Fr

2

/Fh

2

|

CBL). That is,

where fp (see eq. (55)) is the fraction of the source material that remains trapped in the CBL. 

Using eq.(74), concentrations in the CBL (Cc) are calculated from eq. (71) with (Fr

2

/Fh

2

) replaced

by (Fr

2

/Fh

2

|

CBL).

5.5 Estimation of Dispersion Coefficients

The overall standard deviations (Fy,z) of the lateral and vertical concentration distributions

are a combination of the dispersion (represented by Fya, Fza) resulting from ambient turbulence,

and dispersion (Fb) from turbulence induced by plume buoyancy. Building induced dispersion is

not included here since a separate approach (see Section 5.5.3) is taken for situations in which

building wake effects contribute to the total dispersion. Dispersion induced by ambient

turbulence is known to vary significantly with height, having its strongest variation near the

earth’s surface. Unlike present regulatory models, AERMOD has been designed to account for

the effect of variations of turbulence with height on dispersion through its use of “effective

parameters” (see Section 4.2), which are denoted by an overscript tilde, e.g., . ~

σ wT

AERMOD treats vertical dispersion from ambient turbulence (Fza) as a combination of a

specific treatment for surface dispersion and the more traditional approach based on Taylor

(1921) for elevated dispersion. Using this approach good agreement with observations was

achieved in the SBL. However, the results in the CBL indicated that the treatment of lateral

dispersion near the surface was problematic. This problem was corrected through the

development of an empirical relationship for Fya near the surface using the full (CBL and SBL)

Prairie Grass data set. A description of the resulting formulations for Fya & Fza is presented in the

next section.

The approach used to combine the above contributions to dispersion assumes that the effects

are independent of one another. Thus, the total dispersion coefficients, for situations that do not

include building downwash effects, are calculated from the following general expression (Pasquill

and Smith 1983): 

where the subscripts y and z are deleted from Fb because Fyb is assumed equal to Fzb. With the

exception of the CBL’s penetrated source the form of eq. (75) applies to all source dispersion in

both the CBL and SBL such that Fy,z becomes Fys,zs and Fyjs,zj and Fya,za becomes Fyas,zas and Fyajs,zaj

for the SBL and CBL, respectively. For the penetrated source, the total dispersion is assumed to

include ambient and buoyancy induced turbulence only; building wakes are assumed to have little

influence. For the injected source, the total dispersion is calculated as if the source were in the

SBL.
58

σ

σ

ya

v

x

u

x u

T

Ly

p =

+

⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

~

~ ~

1

2

(76)

( ) σ

σ

α ya

v

p

x

u X = +

~

~ 1 (77)

A comment on notation: eq. (75) applies for both lateral and vertical dispersion in the SBL

and CBL. In references to the SBL, Fz appears as Fzs in the dispersion equation; Fza appears as

Fzas. In reference to the CBL, Fz appears as Fzj for the dispersion expression applicable to the

direct and indirect sources and Fza appears as Faj; for the penetrated source Fz appears as Fzp in the

dispersion expression. 

5.5.1 DISPERSION FROM AMBIENT TURBULENCE

5.5.1.1 Lateral Dispersion from Ambient Turbulence

In general terms, the ambient component of the lateral dispersion is based upon Taylor (1921)

such that:

where p = 0.5, u is the wind speed, Fv is the root-mean-square lateral turbulence velocity, and TLy

is the Lagrangian integral time for the lateral turbulence. Application of eq. (76) in a preliminary

version of AERMOD yielded poor concentration estimates in comparison to those found in the

Prairie Grass field experiments (Barad 1958). Specifically, the lateral spread was not well

matched. Therefore, the lateral dispersion expression was reformulated to allow for an empirical

fit to the Prairie Grass data.

Using an approach similar to that of Venkatram et al. (1984) TLy is found to be l/Fv where l is

an appropriate length scale for lateral turbulence. Equation (76) can be written in terms of the

non-dimensional downwind distance X and a non-dimensional height scale " as:

where is the non-dimensional distance with u and Fv X x uz ( ) given by effective parameters, = v i

~ / ~ σ

where " = zi /l, and zi is the mixed layer height.

Based on a preliminary comparison of Fya (eq. (77)) with selected stable and convective cases

from the Prairie Grass experiment (Barad 1958) " was found equal to 78 and p equal to 0.3. As

such, " is treated as a fitting parameter. In later comparisons against the full Prairie Grass data

set (Figure 17), eq. (77) tended towards the lower envelope of this widely scattered data (i.e.,

lateral dispersion estimates are on the lower end of the distribution of measurements). However,

the preliminary values of " (= 78) and p (= 0.3) produced good agreement between AERMOD

concentration predictions and observations (Brode 2002). Therefore, these preliminary values

were retained in AERMOD, and eq. (77) applies for the calculation of Fya for all plumes in both

the SBL and CBL.
59

α = ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠ 78 ⎟ z

z

PG

max

(78)

 

Figure 17: Lateral spread (Fy) as a function of non-dimensional distance

(O). The data is taken from the Prairie Grass experiment (Barad

1958).

The ambient component of the lateral dispersion for the penetrated source, i.e. a source which

has been released below zi

, but penetrates above, is calculated using eq. (77) with hes set equal to

hep (the height of the penetrated source). However, for the injected source, i.e. source released

above zi

, no substitution is needed since these sources are modeled as a stable source.

To account for the increase in the turbulence length scale and hence the Lagrangian time scale

with release heights greater than that at Prairie Grass, " is scaled as follows:
60

σ σσ zas

es

i

zgs

es

i

zes

h

z

h

z = − ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ +

⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠ 1 . ⎟ (79)

σ σ zes wT ( )

Lzs

x u

x u

T

= +

⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ~ ~ ~

1 ' 2

1 2

(80)

T

l

Lzs

wT

= ~

σ (81)

111

ll l n s

= + . (82)

where zPG = 0.46 m (Prairie Grass release height), and . To insure that z MAX z z [ ] " does max PG = ;

not become unrealistically large for surface releases, z is not allowed below zPG (i.e., 0.46 m). In

the SBL, z = hes; in the CBL z = hs; for penetrated sources, z = hep. . As " becomes small for

large release heights, Fya would tend to grow linearly with downwind distance.

5.5.1.2 Vertical Dispersion from Ambient Turbulence

For sources in the SBL (and for sources in the CBL that are emitted directly into the stable

layer above the mixed layer), the ambient portion of the vertical dispersion (Fzas) is composed of

an elevated (Fzes) and near-surface (Fzgs) component. For hes < zi simple interpolation provides a

smooth transition between the two components.

For hes $ zi Fzas is set equal to Fzes. The expressions for calculating hes are found in Section 5.6.2. 

It should be noted, for sources in the SBL, that Fzas is the specific form of the ambient portion of

the vertical dispersion (i.e., Fza in eq. (75)).

In the SBL, the elevated portion of the vertical dispersion follows the form of eq. (76):

where FwT is the vertical turbulence due to the mechanical mixing (Cimorelli et al., 2004).

As with the lateral component, the Lagrangian time scale (TLzs) for the vertical turbulence can

be written in the form (Venkatram et al. 1984)

The length scale l is an interpolation between the limiting length scales for neutral conditions,

l h , and stable conditions : n es = 0 36 . l

N s

wT = 0 27 .

~

σ

where and . Under very stable conditions or at large heights, l h l n es = 0 36 . l N s wT = 0 27 . ~

σ

approaches ls. When conditions are near neutral, N is very small, and l approaches ln.

By combining eqs. (80), (81), and (82) we find the following expression that is used by

AERMOD to compute Fzes, the elevated portion of the vertical dispersion for the stable source:
61

σ

π zgs

u x

u

x

L = ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ +

⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟

− 2

1 07

1 3

*

/

~ . (84)

σ zg c ( ) ( ) p

i

b

H

z = − uu x L ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠ 1 10 ⎟ ⋅ ⋅ 2 2

*

~ (87)

σ σσ zaj zej zg

2 22 = + , (85)

σ

σ

σ

σ

zes

wT

wT

es wT

t

t

h

N

=

+ +

⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ ⎡

⎣

⎢ ⎤

⎦

⎥

~

~

. . ~

.

1

2

1

0 36 0 27

1 2

(83)

σ α

σ

zej b

wj x

u = ~ , (86)

Finally, to complete the description of eq. (79), the surface portion of vertical dispersion (Fzgs)

in the SBL, is calculated from Venkatram (1992) as

For the direct and indirect sources in the CBL, the ambient portion of the vertical dispersion

(Fza of eq. (75)) is denoted as Fzaj (j = 1, 2) to distinguish between updrafts and downdrafts. Fzaj is

composed of an elevated (Fzej) and surface (Fzg) portion and is given by

where the elevated portion (Fzej) is obtained from Weil et al. (1997)as 

where Fwj is a parameter in the bi-Gaussian pdf (eq.(53)). 

The expression is designed to be 1.0 above the surface layer αb pi = + Min H z ( ) 06 4 10 . ,.

(Hp > 0.1 zi) and to otherwise match Venkatram’s (1992) result for vertical dispersion from a

surface source in a neutral boundary layer.

For the CBL, the vertical dispersion from a source within the surface layer (Hp{x} < 0.1 zi) is

parameterized by

where bc = 0.5, u* is the friction velocity, and L is the Monin-Obukhov length; above the surface

layer (Hp > 0.1zi

), Fzg is assumed to equal zero. In the limit of a surface release (Hp = 0), the

parameterization of eq. (87) follows the form suggested by Venkatram (1992) for vertical

dispersion in the unstable surface layer; i.e., . The parameterization is designed σ z ∝ ( ) uu x L *

~ 2 2

to: 1) agree with Venkatram’s result in the limit of a surface release, 2) provide good agreement

between the modeled and observed concentrations from the Prairie Grass experiment (Paine et al., 

2001), and 3) decrease with source height in the surface layer and ultimately vanish for above the
62

σ b

h = 0 4

2

. , ∆

(88)

surface layer. The constant bc was chosen to satisfy the second design requirement. In the limit

of a neutral boundary layer Fzg is equal to zero.

The total vertical dispersion for the penetrated source Fzp (= Fz in eq. (75)) is a combination of

both ambient and buoyancy effects. The ambient portion of the vertical dispersion for the

penetrated source contains only an elevated component Fzes (= Fzss) since it is assumed to be

decoupled from the ground surface by its location above zi

 and therefore unaffected by the

underlying surface. The ambient vertical dispersion for the penetrated source is computed as the

elevated portion of a stable source (Fzes of eq. (83) ) with N = 0 and with no contribution from the

surface component. The Brunt-Vaisala frequency, N, is set to zero because the penetrated plume

passes through the well mixed layer (where N .0) prior to dispersing to receptors within the

mixed layer. 

5.5.2 BUOYANCY INDUCED DISPERSION (BID) COMPONENT OF Fy AND Fz

For all plumes, the buoyancy induced dispersion (BID) is calculated following Pasquill

(Pasquill 1976) and Weil (1988b) as

where )h is the plume rise appropriate for each of the plume types (direct, indirect, penetrated,

and stable plumes). The direct source plume rise is calculated from eq. (91), stable plume rise

()hs ) is calculated from eq. (95) and the plume rise for the penetrated source ∆ hh h p ep s = −

(where hep is calculated from eq. (94)).

5.5.3 TREATMENT OF BUILDING DOWNWASH

AERMOD incorporates the Plume Rise Model Enhancements (PRIME) (Schulman et al.

2000) algorithms for estimating enhanced plume growth and restricted plume rise for plumes

affected by building wakes(U.S.Environmental Protection Agency 1995). PRIME partitions

plume mass between a cavity recirculation region and a dispersion enhanced wake region based

upon the fraction of plume mass that is calculated to intercept the cavity boundaries. These

boundaries are established from estimates of the locations of the lateral and vertical separation

streamlines. Dispersion of the recirculated cavity mass is based on building geometry and is

assumed to be uniformly mixed in the vertical. At the boundary of the cavity region, cavity mass

is emitted into the wake region. Here, it is combined with plume mass that was not captured by

the cavity and dispersed at an enhanced rate based on source location, release height and building

geometry. The enhancement of turbulence within the wake decays gradually with distance,

allowing for a smooth transition to ambient levels of turbulence in the far-field. A probability

density function model and an eddy diffusivity model (Weil 1996) are used for dispersion

estimates in the near-wake and far-wake regions, respectively. Plume rise, for sources influenced

by a building, is estimated using a numerical model that includes effects from streamline

deflection near the building, vertical wind speed shear, enhanced dilution from the turbulent wake
63

CC C ( ) Total ime AERMOD = +− γ γ Pr 1 (89)

( ) ( ) ( ) γ

σ

σ

σ

σ

σ

σ = − − ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟

− − ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟

− − ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎟ exp exp exp

xyz xg

xg

yg

yg

zg

zg

2

2

2

2

2

2 222 (90)

∆ h

F x

u

F x

u d

m

p

b

p

= +⋅

⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

3 3

1 2 2 21

2

2

3

1 3

β β (91)

and velocity deficit. In general, these building induced effects act to restrict the rise that the

plume would have in the absence of the building.

PRIME was originally designed (Schulman et al., 2000) to enhance plume growth using

Pasquill Gifford (PG) dispersion (Pasquill 1961; Gifford 1961). AERMOD’s estimate of plume

growth is based on dispersion parameters derived from profiles of turbulence (see Section 4), not

from radiation base turbulence surrogates as is done in the PG approach. A basic design tenet for

incorporating PRIME into AERMOD was to be as faithful as possible to the PRIME formulation

while ensuring that 1) AERMOD’s ambient dispersion was used in place of PG dispersion and 2)

far beyond the wake region, where building influences should be insignificant, concentrations

approach the AERMOD estimate. Therefore, within the wake, PRIME algorithms are use

exclusively to calculate concentration with AERMOD-derived ambient turbulent intensities as

input. To insure a smooth transition between concentrations estimated by PRIME, within the

wake, and AERMOD estimates in the far field, concentrations beyond the wake are estimated as

the weighted sum of the two calculations. That is, beyond the wake the total concentration (Ctotal)

is calculated as follows:

where Cprime is the concentration estimated using the PRIME algorithms with AERMOD-derived

meteorological inputs, CAERMOD is the concentration estimated using AERMOD without

considering building wake effects, and ( the weighting parameter. The weighting parameter, (, is

designed such that the contribution from the PRIME calculation decreases exponentially with

vertical, lateral and downwind distance from the wake. It is calculated as follows:

where x is the downwind distance from the upwind edge of the building to the receptor, y is the

lateral (crosswind) distance from the building centerline to the receptor, z is the receptor height

above ground, Fxg is longitudinal dimension of the wake, Fyg is the distance from the building

centerline to lateral edge of the wake, and Fzg is the height of the wake at the receptor location.

5.6 Plume Rise Calculations in AERMOD

5.6.1 PLUME RISE IN THE CBL

The plume rise for the direct source is given by the superposition of source momentum and

buoyancy effects following Briggs (1984).
64

rr r

a w x

u yz h

e y

p

=+ ⋅ 2

3 2 2 2

2 4

λ * (93)

h h z

ep h s ieq = +

+

2 0 75 . . ∆ (94)

∆ h F z

urr

x

u i

b i

r pyz p

= ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

2

1 2

α , (92)

where is the stack momentum flux, is the stack buoyant F TT wr ( ) m s ss = 2 2 F gw r T T b ss s = ( ) 2 ∆

flux, rs is the stack radius corrected for stack tip downwash, and $1 (= 0.6) is an entrainment

parameter. It should be noted that up is the wind speed used for calculating plume rise. In the

CBL up is set equal to u{hs}.

As shown in Figure 14, the indirect plume, which is included to treat the no flux condition at

z = zi, is modeled as a reflected version of the direct plume with an adjustment ()hi) to the

reflected plume height to account for the delay in vertical mixing due to plume lofting at the top

of the boundary layer. That height adjustment is given by

where ry and rz are the lofting plume half-widths in the lateral and vertical directions, up is the

wind speed used for plume rise, and "r = 1.4. The produce of cross-wind dimensions of the

assumed elliptical plume is calculated from Weil et al. (1997) as

where , $2 = 0.4, 8y = 2.3, and ae r zh ( ) = 0.1 (dimensionless entrainment parameter). h is = − β2

For a derivation and discussion of )hi see Weil et al. (1997).

The height that the penetrated source achieves above zi is calculated as the equilibrium plume

rise in a stratified environment and is determined by the source buoyancy flux, the stable

stratification above zi, and the mean wind speed. In line with Weil et al. (1997), the penetrated

source plume height, hep, is taken as the centroid of plume material above the inversion. For

complete penetration (fp = 0) hep = hs+)heq. However, for partial penetration ( fp > 0), hep is

chosen as the average of the heights of the upper plume edge hs + 1.5 )heq and zi

, or

where )heq is defined in eq. (56).

5.6.2 PLUME RISE IN THE SBL

Plume rise in the SBL is taken from Weil (1988b), which is modified by using an iterative

approach which is similar to that found in Perry et al. (1989). When a plume rises in an

atmosphere with a positive potential temperature gradient, plume buoyancy decreases because the

ambient potential temperature increases as the plume rises; thus, plume buoyancy with respect to

the surroundings decreases. To account for this, the plume rise equations have to be modified. 

With this modification, AERMOD computes stable plume rise, )hs, from Weil et al. (1988b) as
65

∆ h

F

N u

N F

F

N x

u

N x

u s

b

p

m

bp p

= ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟ ⋅ ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟ + −

⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟

⎡

⎣

⎢

⎢

⎤

⎦

⎥

⎥ 2 66 1 2

1 3 1 3

. sin cos ,

' ' '

(95)

x

u

N

F N

F f

p m

b

= ′

⎛ − ′

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠ arctan . ⎟ (96)

∆ h x

F

u N s f

b

p

{} . . = ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟ 2 66 2

1 3

(97)

∆ h Lh L s ns n = + 12 12 ( ) 3 5 2 5. . (98)

∆ h

F

N s

b = 4 1 4

3 4 . (99)

where NN = 0.7N with N given by eq. (58). N and u are evaluated initially at stack height. Once

plume rise has been computed, subsequent plume rise estimates are made (iteratively until

convergence) by averaging the u and N values at stack top with those at . Equation h h (95) s s + ∆ 2

is used for downwind distances that are less than the distance to final rise (xf). Beyond xf, )hs

remains constant. The distance at which the stable plume reaches its maximum rise is given

by

Upon substituting eq. (96) for x in eq. (95) the maximum final rise of the stable plume 

)hs{xf} reduces to:

As with eq. (95), the velocity, up, and N in eqs. (97) are evaluated initially at stack height and

then iteratively.

When the atmosphere is close to neutral, the Brunt Vaisala frequency, N, is close to zero, and

eq.(95) can predict an unrealistically large plume rise. Under, these circumstances, plume rise is

limited by atmospheric turbulence. This happens when the rate of plume rise under neutral

conditions is comparable to Fw. Under these conditions, stable plume rise (eq. (97)) is limited by

the neutral rise calculated from Weil (1985) as 

where the neutral length scale . L F uu n bp = ( * ) 2

As the wind speed approaches zero, eq. (95) again predicts unrealistic values. In these nearcalm conditions the stable plume rise (eq. (97)) is limited by the calm rise expression that is based

on the work of Morton et al. (1956) and Briggs (1969) such that,

Finally, the stable plume rise is limited by a calculation of the unstable rise (see Section

5.6.1).
66

σσσ y yl yo

222 = + (100)

5.7 Source Characterization

AERMOD gives the user the ability to characterize a source as either a point, an area, or a

volume. AERMOD additionally has the capability of characterizing irregularly shaped area

sources.

Point sources are characterized exactly as in the ISC3 model (U.S.Environmental Protection

Agency 1995). The input to the model includes the location, elevation, emission rate, stack

height, stack gas temperature, stack gas exit velocity, and stack inside diameter. The temperature,

exit velocity, and diameter are required for plume rise calculations.

Similarly, volume sources require the same input as the ISC3 model. This includes the

location, elevation height (optional), height of release, emission rate, the initial lateral plume size

(Fy) and initial vertical plume size (Fz). AERMOD differs from ISC3 in the treatment of volume

sources only in how the initial plume size is implemented. Where ISC3 uses the virtual source

technique to account for initial plume size, AERMOD adds the square of the initial plume size to

the square of the ambient plume size: 

where Fyo is the initial horizontal plume size, Fyl is the plume size before accounting for the initial

size, and Fy is the resultant plume size after accounting for the initial size.

The area source treatment is enhanced from that available in ISC3. In addition to being input

as squares or rectangles, area sources may be input as circles or polygons. A polygon may be

defined by up to 20 vertices. A circle is defined by inputting its center location and radius. The

AERMOD code uses this information to create an equivalent nearly-circular polygon of 20 sides,

with the same area as the circle.

As with ISC3, AERMOD allows for the calculation of a simple half-life decay.

5.8 Adjustments for the Urban Boundary Layer

Although urban surface characteristics (roughness, albedo, etc.) influence the boundary layer

parameters at all times, the effects of the urban sublayer on the structure of the boundary layer is

largest at night and relatively absent during the day (Oke 1998). An urban “convective-like”

boundary layer forms during nighttime hours when stable rural air flows onto a warmer urban

surface. Following sunset, the urban surface cools at a slower rate than the rural surface because

buildings in the urban area trap the outgoing thermal radiation and the urban subsurface has a

larger thermal capacity. AERMOD accounts for this by enhancing the turbulence above that

found in the rural stable boundary layer (i.e., a convective-like urban contribution to the total

turbulence in the urban SBL). The convective contribution is a function of the convective

velocity scale, which in turn, depends on the surface heat flux and the urban mixed layer height. 

The upward heat flux is a function of the urban-rural temperature difference.

The urban-rural temperature difference depends on a large number of factors that cannot

easily be included in applied models such as AERMOD. For simplicity, the data presented in

Oke (1973; 1982) is used to construct an empirical model. Oke presents observed urban-rural

temperature differences for a number of Canadian cities with populations varying from about
67

∆ ∆ T T P u r Po − = ⎛

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ + ⎡

⎣

⎢ ⎤

⎦ max ⎥ 01 10 . ln . , (101)

H c Tu u p ur = α ρ ∆ − * , (102)

z R and R P iu ≈ ≈ 12 12 , (103)

z z PP iuc iuo o = ( )

1 4/

(104)

1000 up to 2,000,000. These data represent the maximum urban effect for each city since they

were collected during ideal conditions of clear skies, low winds, and low humidities. An

empirical fit to the data yields the following relationship

where )Tmax = 12 °C, Po = 2,000,000 (the city population associated with the maximum

temperature difference in Oke’s data), and P is the population of the urban area being modeled.

Since the ambient nighttime temperature of an urban area is higher than its surrounding rural

area, an upward surface heat flux must exist in the urban area. It is assumed that this upward

surface heat flux is related to the urban-rural temperature difference through the following

relationship

where " is an empirical constant, D is the density of air, and cp is the specific heat at constant

pressure. This expression is analogous to the bulk transfer parameterization of heat flux over a

homogeneous surface (e.g., Businger (1973)),with " defined as the “bulk” transfer coefficient. 

We chose " to ensure that the upward heat flux is consistent with maximum measured values of

the order of 0.1 m s-1 oC . Because )Tu-r has a maximum value on the order of 10 oC, and u* is on

the order of 0.1 m s-1, " should have a maximum value on the order of 0.1. Although we assume

that " has a maximum (city center) value of about 0.1, AERMOD uses an effective value of " a

that is averaged over the entire urban area. Assuming a linear variation of " from 0 at the edge of

the urban area to about 0.1 at the center of the urban area results in an areal average equal to onethird of that at the center (since the volume of cone is one-third of that of a right circular cylinder

of the same height). Therefore, AERMIC tested an area-averaged value of " equal to 0.03 against

the Indianapolis data. This choice for " is consistent with measured values of the upward heat

flux in Canadian cities reported by Oke (1973; 1982). The results of the developmental testing

indicated that this choice for " resulted in an adequate fit between observations and AERMODpredicted concentrations.

The mixing height in the nighttime urban boundary layer, ziu, is based on empirical evidence

presented in Oke (1973; 1982) that, in turn, suggests the following relationships:

where R is a measure of the city size and P is the population of the city. The first relationship is

based on the observed growth of the internal convective boundary layer next to shorelines

(Venkatram 1978). The second relationship implicitly assumes that population densities do not

vary substantially from city to city. 

Equation (103) leads to the following equation for the nocturnal urban boundary layer height

due to convective effects alone:
68

z Max z z iu iuc im = [ ; .] (105)

w

gH z

c T u

u iuc

p

*

/

= ⎛

⎝

⎜

⎜

⎞

⎠

⎟

⎟ ρ

1 3

(106)

where ziuo is the boundary layer height corresponding to Po. Based on lidar measurements taken

in Indianapolis (1991), and estimates of ziu found by Bornstein (1968) in a study conducted in

New York city, ziuo is set to 400 m in AERMOD.

In addition, since effects from urban heating should not cause ziu to be less than the

mechanical mixing height, ziu is restricted from being less than zim. Therefore, the mixed layer

height for the nighttime urban boundary layer is computed as:

Once the urban mixing height has been estimated, a surrogate convective velocity scale

(appropriate for the magnitude of convective turbulence present) is computed by substituting ziu

and Hu into the definitional equation for w* (Deardorff 1970). That is, 

where w*u is the urban nighttime convective velocity scale and T is the near-surface air

temperature.

Having estimated w*u the turbulence in the nighttime urban can be enhanced using the

expressions found in Section 4.1.5. However, since for low level sources FwT depends primarily

on u* (see eqs. (34) and (35)) it is not possible to directly enhance FwT for these sources using w*u. 

Therefore, an effective friction velocity (u*eff) is developed as a surrogate for w*u in the lower

portion of urban PBL. We define u*eff as the friction velocity that is consistent with Fwm = Fwc at z

= 7zo. Assuming that z = 7zo is always less 0.1ziuc, u*eff is estimated by equating Fwc (eq. (35)) with

Fwm (eq. (37)) and solving for u*. Once u*eff is found, the urban friction velocity for nighttime

conditions (u*u) is calculated as the maximum of u*eff and u* (the rural and daytime urban friction

velocity).

Then using the enhanced velocity scales u*u and w*u, the nighttime convective portion of the

turbulence in the urban boundary layer is computed using the expressions turbulence found in

Section 4.1.5. That is, Fwc and Fwm are calculated from eqs. (35) and (37), respectively, with w*u

used in place of the daytime convective velocity scale (w*) and u*u substituted for the rural u*. 

Furthermore, for consistency purposes, a urban nighttime Monin-Obukhov length is calculated

using eq. (8) with substitutions u*u for u* and Hu (eq. (102)) for H.

Finally, the total nighttime turbulence in the urban boundary layer is calculated as the sum (in

quadrature) of the convective and mechanical portions. With these enhanced levels, vertical

dispersion due to ambient turbulence (Fza) in the urban boundary layer is calculated from eq. (83)

(the SBL formulation for Fza ) with the urban PBL assumed to be neutral (i.e., N = 0). For the

lateral dispersion in the urban boundary layer, Fya is calculated using the SBL formulation given

by eq. (76). 

The potential temperature gradient in the night-time urban boundary layer is set equal to the

upwind rural profile (Section 4.1.3) for all heights above ziu, and is assumed to be equal to a small

positive value below ziu; i.e.,
69

∂θ ∂

∂θ ∂

z for z z

z rural value for z z

iu

iu

= ≤

= >

− 10 5

. (107)

For plumes below ziu , the effective reflection surface is set equal to the height of the urban

boundary layer (i.e., zieff = ziu). Plumes that rise above ziu (hes > ziu) are modeled with a zieff that is

calculated from eq. (68) with zim replaced by ziu. Plume rise in the urban stable boundary layer is

calculated from eqs. (95) - (99) with M2/Mz taken from eq.(107).

Use of this value for M2/Mz provides an appropriate near-neutral plume rise formulation that is

expected within the nocturnal urban boundary layer. However, plume height in these conditions

is not allowed to exceed 1.25 ziu.

For daytime conditions (L < 0) in urban areas, AERMOD uses the same formulations as in

rural areas (i.e., no urban-related adjustments to boundary layer characteristics).
70

6 List of Symbols

Bo Bowen ratio - ratio of the sensible to latent heat fluxes (dimensionless)

CAERMOD concentration estimated using AERMOD without considering building

wake effects (g m-3)

Cc,s{xr,yr,zr} concentration contribution from the horizontal plume state - convective and

stable (g m-3)

Cc,s{xr,yr,zp} concentration contribution from the terrain-following plume state -

convective and stable (g m-3)

Cc{xr,yr,zr} total concentration (CBL) (g m-3)

Cd{xr,yr,zr} concentration contribution from the direct source (CBL) (g m-3)

Cp{xr,yr,zr} concentration contribution from the penetrated source (CBL) (g m-3)

Cr{xr,yr,zr} concentration contribution from the indirect source (CBL) (g m-3)

Cs{xr,yr,zr} total concentration (SBL) (g m-3)

CT{xr,yr,zr} total concentration (CBL) (g m-3)

Cch concentration from the coherent plume used in meander calculations (gm-3)

CR concentration from the random plume used in meander calculations (g m-3)

CD neutral drag coefficient (cal g-1 o

C-1)

Cprime concentration estimated using the PRIME algorithms with AERMODderived meteorological inputs (g m-3)

cp specific heat at constant pressure (= 1004 J g-1 K-1)

Fb plume buoyancy flux (m4 s

3

)

Fy total horizontal distribution function - with meander (m-1)

FyC horizontal distribution function for a coherent plume (m-1)

FyR horizontal distribution function for a random plume (m-1)

FG flux of heat into the ground (W m-2)

Fm plume momentum flux (m4s

2

) 

Fz total vertical distribution function (m-1)

f plume state weighting function (dimensionless)

fp fraction of plume mass contained in CBL = (1 - penetration factor)

dimensionless)

g acceleration due to gravity (9.8 m s-2)

H sensible heat flux (W m-2)

Hc critical dividing streamline (m)

Hp plume centroid height (m)

Hu heat flux in the nighttime boundary layer (W m-2)

hc receptor specific terrain height scale (m)

hep penetrated source plume height above stack base (m)

hs stack height corrected for stack tip downwash (m)

)h general symbol for distance dependent plume rise (m)

)hd plume rise for the direct source (m)

)heq equilibrium plume rise in a stable environment (m)

)hh depth of the layer between zi and the stack top (m)

)hp plume rise for the penetrated source (m)
71

)hi plume rise for the indirect source (m)

)hs plume rise for the stable source (m)

iz vertical turbulence intensity

k von Karman constant k = 0.4 (dimensionless)

l length scale used in determining the Lagrangian time scale (m)

ln neutral length scale - a component of l (m)

ls stable length scale - a component of l (m)

L Monin-Obukhov length (m)

N Brunt-Vaisala frequency (s-1)

Nh Brunt-Vaisala frequency above zi (s-1)

n cloud cover (fractional)

P population of urban area

py lateral probability density function 

pz vertical probability density function

pw probability density function of the instantaneous vertical velocities

Q source emission rate (g/s)

R solar insolation (W m-2)

Rn net radiation (W m-2)

Ro clear sky solar insolation (W m-2)

r(N) Albedo {solar elevation} (dimensionless)

rN noontime albedo (dimensionless)

rs stack radius - corrected for stack tip downwash (m)

ry lateral dimension of an elliptical plume

rz vertical dimension of an elliptical plume

S skewness factor (dimensionless)

T ambient temperature (K)

TLy lateral lagrangian time scale (sec)

TLzc vertical lagrangian time scale for the CBL (sec) 

TLzs vertical lagrangian time scale for the SBL (sec) 

Tr Time scale used in the meander algorithm (sec) 

Tref ambient temperature - at reference temperature height (K)

Ts stack gas temperature (K)

Tu urban surface temperature (K)

t time (sec)

)T difference between stack gas and ambient temperature (K)

)Tu-r urban-rural temperature difference (K)

u wind speed (m s-1)

ucr minimum speed for which the expression for u*, in the SBL, has a real

valued solution (m s-1)

uo defined in eq. (14) and used in eq. (15).

up wind speed that is used for plume rise (m s-1)

uref wind speed at reference height (m s-1)

uth wind speed instrument threshold - separate value for each data set (offsite

& onsite) (m s-1)
72

u* surface friction velocity (m s-1)

u*eff effective surface friction velocity (u*eff) - surrogate for w*u (m s-1)

u*u surface friction velocity for nighttime urban conditions (m s-1)

w random vertical velocity in the CBL (m s-1)

w mean vertical velocity for the updraft (j = 1) and the downdraft (j = 2) j

distributions (m-s-1)

ws stack exit gas velocity (m-s-1)

w* convective velocity scale (m-s-1)

w*u urban nighttime convective velocity scale (m-s-1)

X non-dimensional downwind distance (dimensionless)

xr downwind distance to a receptor (m)

xf distance to final plume rise (m) - eq. (44) for the CBL and eq. (96) for the

SBL

xm downwind distance at which plume material uniformly mixed throughout

the boundary layer (m)

(xr,yr,zr) receptor location

(xt,yt,zt) terrain point location

zbase user specified elevation for the base of the temperature profile (i.e.,

meteorological tower)

zc total height of the plume in the CBL considering both plume rise and

effects from convective turbulence (m)

zi mixing height (m): zi = MAX [zic; zim] in the CBL and zi = zim in the SBL

zic convective mixing height (m)

zie equilibrium height of stable boundary layer

zieff height of the reflecting surface in the SBL or in the stable layer above the

above the CBL (m)

zim mechanical mixing height (m)

ziu urban nighttime boundary layer mixing height (m)

ziuc urban nighttime boundary layer mixing height due to convective effects

alone (m)

Zmsl height of stack base above mean sea level (m)

zo surface roughness length (m)

zPG release height used in the Prairie Grass experiment (m)

zp receptor “flagpole” height - the height of a receptor above local terrain (m)

zr height of the receptor above local source base (m)

zref reference height for wind (m)

zTref reference height for temperature (m)

zt height of the terrain above mean sea level (m)

General symbol used to represent the effective parameters in the treatment ~

α

of the inhomogeneous boundary layer. In the text the effective values of

the parameters u, Fw, Fv and TL are denoted by underscoring the character. 

( parameter used to weight CAERMOD and CPrime in estimating concentrations

that are influenced by building downwash (dimensionless)
73

2 potential temperature (K)

2* temperature scale (K)

8j weighting coefficient for the updraft (j = 1) and downdraft (j = 2)

distributions of eqs. (53), (59) and (65)

D density of air (Kg m-3)

Fb buoyancy induced dispersion for the direct & indirect sources (m)

Fh

2 total horizontal wind “energy” used in the meander algorithm (m2

)

Fr

2 random “energy” component of the total horizontal wind “energy” used in

the meander algorithm (m2

)

FSB Stephen Boltzman constant (5.67x10-8 Wm-2K-4)

Fu along-wind turbulence (m s-1)

Fv lateral turbulence (m s-1) 

Fvc convective portion of the lateral turbulence (m s-1) 

Fvo surface value of the lateral turbulence (m s-1) 

Fvm mechanical portion of the lateral turbulence (m s-1) 

FvT total lateral turbulence (m s-1) 

Fw vertical turbulence (m s-1) 

Fwc convective portion of the vertical turbulence (m s-1) 

Fwm mechanical portion of the vertical turbulence (m s-1) 

Fwml mechanical portion of the vertical turbulence generated in the PBL (m s-1) 

Fwmr mechanical portion of the vertical turbulence above the PBL (residual)

(m s-1) 

FwT total vertical turbulence (m s-1) 

Fxg longitudinal dimension of the building wake (m)

Fy total lateral dispersion for the direct & indirect sources (m)

Fya,zaj ambient turbulence induced dispersion for the direct & indirect sources 

(m)

Fzas ambient dispersion for the stable source (m)

Fyg distance from the building centerline to lateral edge of the building wake

(m)

Fyl lateral spread from combined effects of ambient turbulence and building

downwash (m)

Fzp total dispersion for the penetrated source (m)

Fzs total dispersion for the stable source (m)

Fzaj ambient vertical dispersion for the updraft & downdrafts plumes (j = 1,2),

respectively, for both the direct & indirect sources (m)

Fzej elevated portion of Fzaj (m)

Fzes elevated portion of Fzas (m)

Fzg height of the building wake at the receptor location (m)

Fzj total vertical dispersion for the updrafts and downdrafts

(j=1,2 respectively), for both the direct and indirect sources

Fzg surface portion of Fzaj (m)

Fzgs surface portion of Fzas (m)

J time constant controlling the temporal interpolation of zim (sec)
74

N solar elevation angle

Np fraction of plume mass below Hc (dimensionless)

Qdj total height of the direct source plume (i.e. release height + buoyancy +

convection) (m)

Qrj total height of the indirect source plume (m)

Rm similarity function for momentum (stability correction) - eq. (7) for the

CBL and eq. (29) for the SBL (dimensionless)
75

neq = ⎛ −

⎝

⎜ ⎞

⎠

⎟ 1 009

05

0 5 θ*

. .

. (108)

7 APPENDIX: Input / Output Needs and Data Usage

7.1 AERMET Input Data Needs

Besides defining surface characteristics, the user provides several files of hourly

meteorological data for processing by AERMET. At the present time AERMET is designed to

accept data from any for the following sources: 1) standard hourly National Weather Service

(NWS) data from the most representative site; 2) morning soundings of winds, temperature, and

dew point from the nearest NWS upper air station; and 3) on-site wind, temperature, turbulence,

pressure, and radiation measurements (if available). 

The minimum measured and/or derived data needed to run the AERMOD modeling system

are as follows:

7.1.1 METEOROLOGY

wind speed (u); wind direction; cloud cover - opaque first then total (n); ambient temperature

(t); morning sounding 

Cloud cover is also used in dry deposition calculations in the AERMOD model. Therefore, if

cloud cover is missing and the Bulk Richardson Number Scheme is being used (see 3.3.1) then an

equivalent could cover is calculated as follows, based on van Ulden and Holtslag (van Ulden and

Holtslag 1985):

where 2* is the temperature scale as calculated from eq. (18).

7.1.2 DIRECTIONALLY AND/OR MONTHLY VARYING SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS 

Noon time albedo (rN ); Bowen ratio (Bo); roughness length (zo) - For AERMET, the user can

specify monthly variations of three surface characteristics for up to 12 upwind direction sectors. 

These include: the albedo (r), which is the fraction of radiation reflected by the surface; the

Bowen ratio (Bo), which is the ratio of the sensible heat flux to the evaporation heat flux; and the

surface roughness length (zo) , which is the height above the ground at which the horizontal wind

velocity is typically zero. The user will be guided by look-up tables (in the AERMET user's

guide) of typical values for these three variables for a variety of seasons and land use types. The

information presented in the user’s guide is not be considered regulatory guidance. The user is

encouraged to research the literature to determine the most appropriate values for surface

characteristics, for a specific application.

7.1.3 OTHER 

Latitude; longitude; time zone; wind speed instrument threshold for each data set ( uth ).
76

7.1.4 OPTIONAL 

Solar radiation; net radiation (Rn); profile of vertical turbulence (Fw); profile of lateral

turbulence (Fv)

7.2 Selection and Use of Measured Winds, Temperature and Turbulence in AERMET

7.2.1 THRESHOLD WIND SPEED

The user is required to define a threshold wind speed (uth) for on-site data sets. Although the

current version of AERMOD cannot accept a separate uth for NWS data, a separate uth should be

selected for each on-site data set being used.

7.2.2 REFERENCE TEMPERATURE AND HEIGHT 

The reference height for temperature (zTref), and thus the reference temperature, is selected as

the lowest level of data which is available between zo & 100 m.

7.2.3 REFERENCE WIND SPEED AND HEIGHT

The reference height for winds (zref), and thus the reference wind speed (uref), is selected as the

lowest level of data which is available between 7 zo & 100m. Although the current version of

AERMOD cannot accept a separate zref for offsite data, we believe that a separate zref should be

selected for each data set being used.

If no valid observation of the reference wind speed or direction exists between these limits

the hour is considered missing and a message is written to the AERMET message file. For the

wind speed to be valid its value must be greater than or equal to the threshold wind speed. 

AERMOD processes hours of invalid wind speed, e.g. calms, in the same manner as ISC (EPA

calms policy).

All observed wind speeds in a measured profile that are less than uth are set to missing and are

therefore not used in the construction of the wind speed profile (profiling of winds is

accomplished in AERMOD).

7.2.4 CALCULATING THE POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE GRADIENT ABOVE THE

MIXING HEIGHT FROM SOUNDING DATA

AERMET calculates d2/dz for the layer above zi

 as follows:

- If the sounding extends at least 500 m above zi

 the first 500 m above zi is used to

determine d2/dz above zi

.

- If the sounding extends at least 250 m above zi (but not 500 m) then the available

sounding above zi

 is used to determine d2/dz above zi.

- AERMET limits d2/dz above zi

 to a minimum of 0.005 K m-1.

- If the sounding extends less than 250 m above zi

 then set d2/dz = 0.005 K m-1 (a default

value).
77

7.2.5 MEASURED TURBULENCE

All measured turbulence values are passed to AERMOD if the hour is non-missing. This is

true even for those levels where the wind speed is below uth. Based on measurements with

research grade instruments, reasonable minimum turbulence levels in non-calm conditions for

vertical turbulence (Fw ) and lateral turbulence (Fv) values are set by AERMOD to 0.02 m s-1 and

0.2 m s-1, respectively. Although these lower limits are applied to the measured values of the

turbulence the calculated profile values of Fw & Fv are not subjected to any lower limits. We do

not restrict these estimated profiles because it would bias the calculation of the effective values of

turbulence, which are averages through the layer between the receptor and the plume height, in

determining the dispersion of the plume. However, as discussed in Section 7.9 these limits are

applied to the effective values of turbulence and wind speed.

7.2.6 DATA SUBSTITUTION FOR MISSING ON-SITE DATA

If on-site data are missing for an hour, the hour is considered missing unless the user specifies

a substitute data set. AERMET does not default to NWS (or any other offsite) data.

7.3 Information Passed by AERMET to AERMOD

The following information is passed from AERMET to AERMOD for each hour of the

meteorological data record.

- All observations of wind speed (u); wind direction; ambient temperature (T); lateral

turbulence (Fv); & vertical turbulence (Fw) with their associated measurement heights.

- Sensible heat flux (H), friction velocity (u*), Monin Obukhov length L, zim (for all hours),

zic & w* (for convective hours only), zo , r{N}, & Bo, d2/dz (above zi), uref , wind direction

at the reference height, zref , ambient temperature at the reference height (Tref) (not used in

AERMOD), & the reference height for temperature (zTref)

7.4 Restrictions on the Growth of PBL Height

AERMET restricts the growth of zi

 to a reasonable maximum of 4000 m. This restriction

applies to both calculated and measured mixing heights. Although mixing heights in excess of

4000 m may occur on rare occasions, in desert climates, the additional effect on surface

concentration is most likely insignificant.

7.5 Initializing the Mechanical Mixing Height Smoothing Procedure

If {t + )t}, in eq. (26), is the first hour of the data set then no smoothing takes place. 

Furthermore, if a missing value occurs at time step t then smoothing is not performed at time step

{t + )t} but is restarted for subsequent hours.
78

[ ]

[ ]

σ σ

σ σ

w w

v vs

z Max z ms

z Max z u h ms

{ } { }; .

{ } { }; . { }; . .

=

=

−

−

0 02

0 05 0 2

1

1 (109)

u u uv v = ( ,) + ′ ′ (110)

7.6 Determining The Mixing Height When the Sounding Is Too Shallow

The left hand side of eq. (22) is determined from the morning temperature sounding and the

right hand side from the daytime history of surface heat flux. When the temperature sounding,

obtained from the NWS, does not reach a height which is greater than the convective mixing

height, we must assume a profile for the potential temperature gradient in order to estimate zic. 

This is accomplished as follows:

- Determine d2/dz in the top 500 m layer of the sounding. However, if part of the 500 m

layer is within the first 100 m of the PBL, the layer should be reduced (to a minimum

thickness of 250 m) to avoid using the portion of the sounding that is below 100 m. If the

above conditions can not be satisfied then zic is defined as missing.

- Extend the sounding by persisting d2/dz up and recomputing zic.

- Provide warning messages which tell users

- the height of the actual sounding top,

- that d2/dz has been extrapolated above the sounding zic, and

- that zic has been recomputed.

- Allow the user to reject the “fixed-up” value for zic by defining it as missing.

7.7 Input Data Needs for AERMAP

The following data is required input for AERMAP

- DEM formatted terrain data ( xt, yt, zt )

- Design of receptor grid; AERMAP accepts either polar, Cartesian or discrete receptors

7.8 Information Passed by AERMAP to AERMOD

AERMAP passes the following parameters to AERMOD: xr, yr, zr, zt, & the height scale (hc )

for each receptor.

7.9 Wind Speed & Turbulence Limits Used in Model Calculations

When calculating the effective parameters limits are placed on the such that: 

These limits are also applied when selecting the turbulence for plume rise calculations.

Dilution of the plume is determined by the wind that corresponds to the average over the

magnitudes of the wind vectors during a given time interval. But measurements only give the

vector averaged wind, which can be zero, even though the dilution wind is not zero. We can

estimate the dilution wind by assuming that the vector wind, uv, can be expressed as
79

u u v vu

2222 =++ σ σ . (111)

~ ~ ~ u u . = + v

2 2 2σ (112)

 where is the mean measured wind, and the primed quantities refer to the turbulent u

fluctuations. The assumption being made is that . If we assume that the measured u u v =

velocity fluctuations correspond only to the angular variations of a constant vector, uv, we can

write from eq. (110) that

In this simple model, uv , is the dilution wind. If we take Fu = Fv, the dilution wind can be written

as

This formulation assures that the dilution wind is not zero as long as either or Fv u is not zero. 

Similarly, at the time of plume rise calculations, the effective turbulence and effective wind speed

will be recalculated using eqs. (109) & (112), where the turbulence and winds will be evaluated

at stack top .

7.10 Using Profiles for Interpolating Between Observations

When observations are available AERMOD uses the similarity profile functions to

interpolate adjacent measurements. Figure 18 illustrates how AERMOD’s INTERFACE uses the

expected shape of a meteorological profile to interpolate between observations.
80

Figure 18: AERMOD’s construction of a continuous meteorological profiles by

interpolating between observations. 

For a gridded profile height between two observed profile heights, the observations are

interpolated to the gridded height while maintaining the shape of the similarity profile. This is

accomplished as follows:

1. the observations are linearly interpolated to the gridded profile height;

2. the similarity function is evaluated at the gridded profile height;

3. the similarity function is evaluated at the observed profile heights immediately above

and below the grid height and linearly interpolated to the grid height;

4. the ratio of the value obtained in 2. to the value obtained in 3. is applied to the value

obtained in 1.

For a gridded profile height above the highest observation, the procedure is modified slightly:

1. the observation at the highest observed profile height is extrapolated by persisting the

value upward;

2. the similarity function is evaluated at the grid height;

3. the similarity function is evaluated at the highest height in the observed profile;
81

4. the ratio of the value obtained in 2. to the value obtained in 3. is applied to the value

obtained in 1.

A similar procedure for extrapolating to heights above the observed profile is applied to

heights below the lowest observed profile height.

7.11 Using Measured Mixing Heights

If measured mixing heights are available, then they are treated in the following manner: If

L>0 (SBL) the measured mixing height is defined as zie and it is treated the same as a calculated

mechanical mixing height (smoothed as explained in Section 3.4.2). If L<0 (CBL) the measured

mixing height is defined as zic, and zie is calculated from eq. (24), smoothed, then proceed as if

both zic and the smoothed zim had been calculated values.

If a user has “measured” mixing heights available (and chooses to use them), AERMET

defaults to substituting calculated mixing heights for missing measurements and a message is

written that a substitution has occurred. If the user elects to substitute calculations for missing

measurements, AERMET will print out a message to the message file for each hour that a

substitution has occurred. 
82

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Zilitinkevich, S. S., 1972: On the determination of the height of the ekman boundary layer.

Bound.Layer Meteor., 3, 141-145.
90

TECHNICAL REPORT DATA

(Please read Instructions on reverse before completing)

1. REPORT NO.

 EPA-454/R-03-004

2. 3. RECIPIENT'S ACCESSION NO.

4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE

AERMOD: Description of Model Formulation

5. REORT DATE

 September 2004

6. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION CODE

7. AUTHOR(S) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NO.

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS

See below.

10. PROGRAM ELEMENT NO.

11. CONTRACT/GRANT NO.

12. SPONSORING AGENCY NAME AND ADDRESS

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards

Emissions Monitoring and Analysis Division

Research Triangle Park, NC 27711

13. TYPE OF REPORT AND PERIOD COVERED

Final technical report. Supplement A

14. SPONSORING AGENCY CODE

EPA/200/04

15. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

16. ABSTRACT The purpose of this document is to provide a comprehensive, detailed description of the

technical formulation of AERMOD and its preprocessors - AERMAP and AERMET.

17. KEY WORDS AND DOCUMENT ANALYSIS

a. DESCRIPTORS b. IDENTIFIERS/OPEN ENDED TERMS c. COSATI Field/Group

 AERMOD, FORMULATION, DESCRIPTION, Air Pollution models

18. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT

 Release Unlimited

19. SECURITY CLASS (Report) Unclassified 21. No of pages 85

20. SECURITY CLASS (Page) Unclassified 22. PRICE

EPA Form 2220-1 (Rev. 4-77) PREVIOUS EDITION IS OBSOLETE
91

United States Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Publication NoEnvironmental Protection Agency Emissions Monitoring and Analysis Division September 200Research Triangle Park, NC