Comparison of CALMET and WRF/CALMET coupling for dispersion of NO2 and SO2 using CALPUFF modelling system

Abstract

This study aims to compare the wind and concentration field generated by a coupling of WRF/CALMET model and CALMET/CALPUFF with no introduction of any gridded wind field. The domain was located at the city of Linhares, southeast region of Brazil, with a 15×15 grid cells and 1 km resolution. The chosen modelling period was April 1st, 2011, with the length of 90 h. The pollutants simulated by CALPUFF were NO2 and SO2. The final results of dispersion and concentration peak were compared against environmental legislation of 1 h average for NO2 and 24 h average for SO2. The first simulation, using WRF/CALMET model, shows plausible results. The second mode, CALMET/CALPUFF, generated a wind field with questionable results, which probably compromised the dispersion simulation. Both model results are within environmental legislation.