Overview, Current Status, and Future Plans for the DOE Atmospheric Studies in Complex Terrain (ASCOT) Program

摘要

Several terrain-dominated air-flow phenomena affect the problem of pollutant transport over complex terrain. One of these in nocturnal valley drainage flow, chosen as the initial focus of the ASCOT program. For this study we chose the Geysers geothermal area in Northern California as the initial study site. Objectives for this study were defined as, (1) to augment the present knowledge of the physical mechanisms involved in the development, perpetuation, and breakup of nocturnal drainage flows; (2) to develop an integrated measurement and modeling methodology to perform air quality impact assessment and control strategies for energy development in areas subject to drainage flows; and (3) to provide the developed methodology with special applications to the H sub 2 S emissions associated with the Geysers geothermal development. This report summarizes the field and modeling efforts that have been conducted thus far and discusses preliminary results and future plans. (ERA citation 06:035431)