Open

Create
Aermet AERMET: Pre-Processing Meteorological Data
View
new for Use In the AERMOD Model
subfolder
named
“met” Site
inside Characteristics
your Hourly
project Surface Hourly Surface
folder Select
‘New’ Observations Data File
(*.dat file) (*.sfc file) Aermod
AERMET Dispersion
program Hourly Model
Twice Daily Vertical
Temperature Profile File
Name new Soundings (*.pfl file)
Aermet
project file
(*.ua file)
and save in
“met” folder

Go to Webmet.com, download files into the met subfolder, then unzip them in
the met subfolder. Note also for this site the anemometer height = 22 ft and
the base elevation = 179 ft. Select hourly surface data file
SCRAM surface file: (.dat file) from met subfolder

Make sure years match

Aermet upper air file:

The surface met data file will automatically display the appropriate conversion Select the Upper Air Menu
here. In this case, the station recorded the data in local time.

The upper air data file will automatically display an adjustment to local time. This is
because this data is recorded using Greenwich Mean Time which, in this particular
Select hourly upper air data file case, is 5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.
(.ua file) from met subfolder
 Select the Sectors Menu 1. Add Site information by clicking on “Copy from Hourly and Upper Air Data”
2. Enter the Anemometer Height (22 feet from the relevant Webmet page)
3. Then Select the Sectors and Surface Parameters Tab

1. Make sure ‘wind direction sectors’ = 1 1. Repeat this process for the Bowen ratio and the
2. Specify annual averages (no seasonal effects surface roughness
assumed here)
3. Then click on the dotted tab and a menu will appear
(see right)’
4. Choose the default “Urban” land-use value by
selecting the appropriate row
Now Run Aermet.
AERMET: Pre-Processing Meteorological Data
for Use In the AERMOD Model
Site
Characteristics
Hourly
Surface Hourly Surface
Observations Data File
(*.dat file) (*.sfc file) Aermod
AERMET Dispersion
program Hourly Model
Twice Daily Vertical
Temperature Profile File
Soundings (*.pfl file)
(*.ua file)

Now open ISC-

Aermod View
 From the “Model” menu, make sure you choose Aermod

Under the File menu, choose “New Project”

Name the ISC-Aermod

Project file and save it in the
project folder

These choices are the same as before

 Set domain extents to 10,000 meters and SW corner to 0,0

A menu will pop up asking for details about the source

Chosen source location
in modeling domain
coordinates
Select the stack tool, place the pointer
at a location in the middle of the
modeling domain, then click once to Enter typical values:
set the source location Stack height: 100 m
Emission rate: 1 g/sec
Exit Velocity: 10 m/s
Stack Diameter: 3 m

Click on the “Tip”

Button for information
on stack gas
temperature. Select the
Ambient Temperature
Option (the program
artificially sets the stack
temperature to 0K if it is
the same as the
surroundings).
 Location of newly created point source

You can also enter grid

values with this menu.

The receptor grid is shown here.

Select polar coordinate system for receptor grid. Point

at the source location, then click and drag the pointer
away from the source to establish the receptor grid. If
the grid is near the source, you can zoom in first using
the zoom tool. You can erase the grid anytime.

Click and drag a second, larger polar receptor grid over the first one.
To zoom out, select the
domain tool modeling Close window to return to main program
domain and click OK on the
pop-up menu. This will
display the entire domain.
 Load the met files (surface .dat file and upper air .ua file) from
The receptor grids are shown in the table. Now
your project folder that you created earlier with Aermet.
choose the met data menu

Specify a base elevation for the measured upper air data.

The information is given on the relevant webmet page as
being equal to 179 ft.

This is a contour plot of the maximum 1 hr value for the entire year at each
You can now run the model location. You can look at the maximum 3hr and 24 hr values as well.

Prior to running, a project

status menu is displayed.
The various tabs allow you
to review all the options
you have selected.

Then choose run. After the run is complete,

Select the Contours option.
 Recent updates to Aermod

Erase the point source and select the area

source tool and place the pointer at the
same location as the point source. Try to
match the total emission rate specified for
the point source (1 g/sec). Compare
maximum downwind values

Now includes
deposition

http://www.weblakes.com/ISCAERMOD/ISC-AER5_ReleaseNotes.pdf

Including Site Specific Data

in AERMET
• Wind direction dependence of albedo, B0 and z0
• Land use vs. site parameters
• Temperature and velocity profiles
– alternate method to estimate u* and L
– spreadsheet program
AERMET: Pre-Processing Meteorological Data Select the Sectors Menu

for Use In the AERMOD Model

Site
Characteristics
Hourly
Surface Hourly Surface
Observations Data File
(*.dat file) (*.sfc file) Aermod
AERMET Dispersion
program Hourly Model
Twice Daily Vertical
Temperature Profile File
Soundings (*.pfl file)
(*.ua file)

Here we have specified urban conditions in the winter with easterly …and a water surface to the west of the site.
winds….

Note: the values will change with season Note: the values may change with season
 http://www.webgis.com/

http://www.webgis.com/ http://www.webgis.com/
 Land use data can be view in ArcMap. Data is available at this site for most urban areas.
Select the Upper Air Menu

The upper air data file will automatically display an adjustment to local time. This is
Select the On-Site Menu
because this data is recorded using Greenwich Mean Time which, in this particular
case, is 8 hours ahead of Pacific Standard Time.
 Use same time adjustment as upper air data. Additonal temperature and wind speed measurements can be entered
here to independently estimate local turbulence parameters

Copy lat/long information from surface station (if

nearby) or enter site-specific location.

Iterative Calculation of u* and L for each hour Examples

Example for Unstable Case:
Definition of L z1 = 10 m uz1 = 2 m/s
kuref
u* = z2 = z0 = 0.01m uz2 = 0 m/s This trial and error
⎛ zref ⎞ z3 = 10 m T3 = 295.4 K
ln⎜⎜ − Ψzref + Ψz 0 ⎟⎟ calculation is
ρc p T0 (u * ) z4 = 2 m T4 = 295.8 K
3
⎝ z0 ⎠ L=−
performed by the
⎛1+ µ ⎞ ⎛1+ µ 2 ⎞ π kgH Solving by trial and error, we obtain EXCEL spreadsheet
Ψzref = 2 ln⎜ ⎟ + ln⎜⎜ ⎟⎟ − 2 tan −1 (µ ) + L = -3.8 m, u* = 0.15 m/s and H = 81 Watts/m2
⎝ 2 ⎠ ⎝ 2 ⎠ 2 entitled “Profile
⎛1 + µ0 ⎞ ⎛ 1 + µ 02 ⎞ π Method” on the
Ψz0 = 2 ln⎜ ⎟ + ln⎜⎜ ⎟ − 2 tan −1 (µ 0 ) +
⎟
⎝ 2 ⎠ ⎝ 2 ⎠ 2 Example for Stable Case: course web page
0.25 0.25
z1 = 10 m uz1 = 2 m/s
⎛ 16 z ref ⎞ ⎛ 16 z 0 ⎞
µ = ⎜⎜1 − ⎟ µ 0 = ⎜1 − ⎟ z2 = z0 = 0.01m uz2 = 0 m/s
⎝ L ⎟⎠ ⎝ L ⎠ Independently z3 = 10 m T3 = 295.4 K
estimated each hour, as
z4 = 2 m T4 = 295.0 K
“Similarity” Functions described previously

Solving by trial and error, we obtain

L = 11.1 m, u* = 0.07m/s and H = -3 Watts/m2
 Excel Spreadsheet entitled “Aermod”
Met Data:
Hour Cloud Cover Wind Speed
Site Specific Data
in RAMMET
(noon = 12) (Octas) (m/sec)
Turbulence Parameters
Site Data: 0 0 2.05
Date 31-Aug 1 1 1
Site Latitude (deg) 49 2 1 1 10
Albedo (see columns A-L) 0.2 3 1 1

L (m )
Bowen Ratio 0.1 4 1 1 0 0 5 1 0 1 5 2 0 2 5

Roughness Length (m) 0.03 5 1 1

Anemometer height (m)
T emperature (K)
8
288
6
7
1
1
1
1
-10
• Dry deposition option
Pre-dawn dθ/dz (K/m) 0.01 8 1 1
1

w* (m /se c)
Source Data:
Hour of Day
Stack height (m)
0
2
9
10
11
1
1
1
1
1
1 0.5
• Minimum value of L
Stack diameter (m) 3 12 1 1
Stack gas exit velocity (m/s)
Stack gas temperature (K)
10
300
13
14
1
1
1
1
0
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21
• Roughness length: measurement vs application site
Receptor Location (m): 15 1 1
zr = 310 16 1 1
0.2 • Anthropogenic Heat Flux (heat island)
u* (m/s)
xr = 1000 17 1 1
Yr = 0 18 1 1
0.1
19 1 1 0
20 1 1
0 3 6 9 12 15 18 21
21 1 1

22 1 1 Hour of Day
23 1 1