Air pollution and terrain aerodynamics: A review of fluid modeling studies at the EPA fluid modeling facility

Recent fluid modeling studies conducted at the EPA Fluid Modeling Facility of flow and diffusion in complex terrain are reviewed. Ratios of the maximum concentration on a hill surface to the maximum concentration in the absence of the hill are estimated. This ratio may be regarded as a terrain amplification factor and is a function of hill aspect ratio (two-versus three-dimensional), hill slope, atmospheric stability, etc. For upwind sources, terrain amplification factors are typically 1 to 2 for neutral flow over two-dimensional hills and 2 to 4 for three-dimensional hills. Terrain amplification factors as large as 10 or 15 were found for low sources placed downwind of two-dimensional hills of moderate to large slope. For strongly stable flow over three-dimensional hills, it is more useful to compare maximum surface concentrations with those at the centerline of the plume in the absence of the hill. These concentrations have been shown to be essentially equal.