This page gives technically minded readers the possibility to explore the Prairie Grass data set and compare data with model behaviour.
The material here relates to a 5-page conference paper:
Evaluation of OML and AERMOD by H.R. Olesen, R. Berkowicz and P. Løfstrøm. Prepard for the 11th International Conference on Harmonisation within Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling for Regulatory Purposes. Cambridge, July 2007. Download paper (130 kB).
Background information:
The Prairie Grass experiment is a classic experiment conducted in July-August 1956. A release took place from a point source close to ground level (46 cm height). SO2 was used as a tracer, and concentrations were measured on arcs at distances of 50 m, 100 m, 200 m, 400 m and 800 m. The duration of each of the 68 sampling periods was 10 minutes. The original data were published in a paper report (Barad, 1958).
In a recent study (see the conference paper above) we have used this data set (among others) to evaluate the performance of two dispersion models. The models are the Danish OML model (in two versions) and the US AERMOD model.
The present page gives relevant links, as listed below:
