5

1) Ambient/Environmental Lapse Rate ( )
2) Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate, ( )

1) Ambient Lapse Rate ( )
2) 9.8 ˚C
=
9.8 ˚C/km
Quiz break
Does the Air Temperature

Lapse Rate have anything
to do with Air Quality?
Vertical Mixing versus Air Quality
https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/pollutant-concentration
ATMOSPHERIC VERTICAL STABILITY VERSUS TEMPERATURE OF AIR PARCELS
What would happen to Adiabatic Air Parcel if….?
A) T adiabatic Air Parcel > T Environmental Air Parcel?
A) Bouyant!, UNSTABLE
B) T adiabatic Air Parcel < T Environmental Air Parcel?
B) Sinks!, STABLE
C) T adiabatic Air Parcel = T Environmental Air Parcel?
C) Stays, NEUTRAL
Note: questions refer to Temperature, not temperature gradient (dT/dZ) or lapse rates
Air Temperature Lapse Rates
<Г
Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate
10°C/km
>Г
TheThe
atmospheric stability
atmospheric stability is classified
is classed by Pasquilby
as: Pasquill as:
A – Highly unstable
B – Unstable
C – Slightly unstable
D – Neutral
E – Slightly stable
F – Stable
Two special cases of lapse rate:
• Isothermal: no temperature change with elevation
• Inversion: temperature increase with elevation
Stable / Unstable Atmosphere Pollutant Dispersion ???
Ambient Lapse Rate varies from day to day, day to night, and season to
season.
Night Day
Land surface
temperature is
colder at night. T
increases with Z
Variation of temperature with height day and night.

INVERSION
Discharge?
INVERSION LAYER
INVERSION LAYER
SUBSIDENCE RADIATION SUBSIDIENCE
The pollutants will only be mixed at
the layer closer to the city
It results in elevated ground level concentrations
Black
Inversion layers. Factors that trigger them:
• More frequent in winter season
• Clouds and fog increase the probability of having inversion layers
• Uncovered (empty) land surface with no vegetation or buildings

changes temperature very fast inversion layers are promoted
INVERSION vs AIR QUALITY
Important conclusions from Atmospheric Stability and
Air Pollutant Dispersion:
• Atmospheric stability plays a major role in air

pollution dispersion modelling
• Turbulence and mixing is provided by an UNSTABLE

atmosphere. Therefore, Unstable atmospheres
enhance the dispersion (especially vertical mixing)
of air pollutants
• STABLE atmospheres inhibit turbulence and result

in very poor dispersion of air pollutants
Units of concentration:
- ppmv = parts per million by volume - ppbv = parts per billion by volume
- ppmm = parts per million by mass - ppbm = parts per billion by mass
- mg/m3 = weight per 1 m3 of ambient air - mg/Nm3 = weight per 1 normal cubic meter
Nm3 = normal dry m3 at STP (temperature = 0oC and pressure = 1013 mb)
Converting µg/m3 to ppm
• First using STP conditions to convert mass of pollutants to volume

• Use ideal gas law to make correction for T & P
At STP (T=0oC, P= 101.3 kPa), 1 mole of an ideal gas=22.4l
At NSTP, 1 mole=22.4*(T/273K)*(101kPa/P)
Mp T 101.3kPa
* 22.4 * 2 *
MW 273K P2
• ppm =
Va *1000 L / m 3
Mp=mass of pollutant (µg)
Vp=volume of pollutant (L)
MW=molecular weight of pollutant
T2=absolute T (K)
P2=absolute P (Kpa)
Va=volume of air (m3) at (T2, P2)
Converting ppmv to mg/m3: !
PRACTICE 1. Convert 450 ppmv CO2 to mg/m3
450 𝑙𝑙 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 450 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2

𝑜𝑜𝑜𝑜
106 𝑙𝑙 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 106 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴
MW (CO2) = 44.01 g/mol
450 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 44.01 𝑔𝑔 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 103 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶
� � � =0.884 𝑙𝑙 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 2
106 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 1 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 1 𝑔𝑔 22.4 𝑙𝑙
𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 103 𝑙𝑙 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝟐𝟐

0.884 � = 𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖𝟖
𝑙𝑙 𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴𝐴 1 𝑚𝑚3 𝒎𝒎𝟑𝟑 𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨𝑨
Self-evaluation
Break
PRACTICE 2.
1m3 of sample of air is found to contain 80 µg/m3 of SO2.
Temperature and pressure were 25°C and 103.193 kPa when the air
sample was taken. What was the SO2 concentration?
Sol.: 0.03 ppm SO2

Probability Density Function
1 − 𝑥𝑥 − 𝑥𝑥0 )2
𝑓𝑓 𝑥𝑥 = 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒
𝜎𝜎 (2𝜋𝜋)1⁄2 2𝜎𝜎 2
Hg
ΔH
Ue
H = Hg+ΔH
As distance increases
so does dispersion
(0, 0, H)
x=0 at stack
y=0 at plume centreline
z=0 at ground level
𝑄𝑄 −(y−𝑦𝑦0 )2 −(z−𝑧𝑧0 )2
C 𝑥𝑥, 𝑦𝑦, 𝑧𝑧 = 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒
2𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜋𝜎𝜎𝑦𝑦 𝜎𝜎𝑧𝑧 2𝜎𝜎𝑦𝑦2 2𝜎𝜎𝑧𝑧2
Wind direction:
• The ‘main’ wind direction is longitudinal.

• Superimposed on this are a fluctuating lateral wind direction and a
vertical wind direction.
• Lateral standard deviation of wind direction, σy, and
• Vertical standard deviation of wind direction, σz, define level of
instability.
• They both depend on height.

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1) Ambient/Environmental Lapse Rate ( )

2) Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate, ( )

Does the Air Temperature

What would happen to Adiabatic Air Parcel if….?

A) T adiabatic Air Parcel > T Environmental Air Parcel?

B) T adiabatic Air Parcel < T Environmental Air Parcel?

C) T adiabatic Air Parcel = T Environmental Air Parcel?

Dry Adiabatic Lapse Rate

Variation of temperature with height day and night.

• More frequent in winter season

• Clouds and fog increase the probability of having inversion layers

• Uncovered (empty) land surface with no vegetation or buildings

• Atmospheric stability plays a major role in air

• Turbulence and mixing is provided by an UNSTABLE

• STABLE atmospheres inhibit turbulence and result

• First using STP conditions to convert mass of pollutants to volume

PRACTICE 1. Convert 450 ppmv CO2 to mg/m3

450 𝑙𝑙 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 450 𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2

𝑚𝑚𝑚𝑚 𝐶𝐶𝐶𝐶2 103 𝑙𝑙 𝒎𝒎𝒎𝒎 𝑪𝑪𝑪𝑪𝟐𝟐

Sol.: 0.03 ppm SO2

• The ‘main’ wind direction is longitudinal.

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