Validation of a multisource dispersion model for atmospheric sulfur concentration

Two tenths of one percent of the annual world output of SO2 is generated within twenty-five kilometers of the Walker Branch watershed in the vicinity of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The prevailing wind pattern dictates that a substantial fraction of this effluent is transported to the vicinity of the Walker Branch area. The Air Transport Model (ATM) is the mechanism employed to estimate the concentration and/or deposition of an effluent at any given point. A test of the validity of the ATM was undertaken, therefore, using data from SO2 monitoring stations established by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The location and type of monitoring stations employed were far from ideal. In addition, the tabulating requirements of TVA are often an order of magnitude more gross than the model predicts. Nevertheless, comparison of the model with TVA data showed excellent agreement