THE ATMOSPHERIC MESOSCALE DISPERSION MODELING SYSTEM

The mesoscale dispersion modeling system (MDMS) described herein is under development as a simulation tool to investigate atmospheric flow and pollution dispersion over complex terrain for domains up to several hundred kilometers. The system includes a three-dimensional mesoscale meteorological model (MESO), a Lagrangian particle dispersion (LPD) model, and an Eulerian grid dispersion (EGD) model based on numerical solution of K-theory advection-diffusion equations. These two dispersion models can be used separately, or they can be linked together as a hybrid Lagrangian-Eulerian dispersion model. The MDMS has been designed for use on personal computers and workstations. This paper provides a compact description of the present status of the modeling system and its applications. Numerical simulations performed for a complex region of the east coast of the United States demonstrate two complementary approaches to air-pollution dispersion modeling available in the MDMS: traditional source-oriented modeling, and receptor-oriented modeling.