A quasi-experimental coastal region eddy diffusivity applied in the APUGRID model

Abstract

In this study, Taylor statistical diffusion theory and sonic anemometer measurements collected at 11 levels on a 140 m high tower located in a coastal region in southeastern Brazil have been employed to obtain quasi-empirical convective eddy diffusivity parameterizations in a planetary boundary layer (PBL). The derived algebraic formulations expressing the eddy diffusivities were introduced into an Eulerian dispersion model and validated with Copenhagen tracer experiments. The employed Eulerian model is based on the numerical solution of the diffusion–advection equation by the fractional step/locally one-dimensional (LOD) methods. Moreover, the semi-Lagrangian cubic-spline technique and Crank–Nicolson implicit scheme are considered to solve the advection and diffusive terms. The numerical simulation results indicate that the new approach, based on these quasi-experimental eddy diffusivities, is able to reproduce the Copenhagen concentration data. Therefore, the new turbulent dispersion parameterization can be applied in air pollution models.