Abstract
The well-known bivariate Gaussian Plume model (GP model) is very widely used for the prediction of diffusion from a continuous point source in the atmosphere and yields the Gaussian concentration distribution (shape exponent n=2) both in the horizontal and vertical directions. However, an application of the GP model to diffusion from a source near the ground level in the atmospheric surface layer frequently results in prediction errors of the concentrations mainly because of the shear affected non-Gaussian concentration distribution (n≠2) in the vertical direction near the ground level. Thus, one of the authors previously proposed a new non-Gaussian plume model (NTI model), taking the non-Gaussian vertical distribution into consideration by the mathematical improvement of the conventional GP model.
This time, the diffusion experiment of varied source heights has been carried out in a simulated turbulent boundary layer in our wind tunnel to study the experimental validation of the NTI model.
The results showed that ground level concentrations between the measurements and the NTI model agreed fairly well and it was concluded that the proposed NTI model might be of practical use for diffusion prediction near the ground level.
