Smoke plume screening tool for in-situ burning

One of the newer techniques in oil spill cleanup is in-situ burning of the slick. However, the option to burn floating oil is sometimes restricted due to the resulting smoke plume it creates. Sophisticated models exist to predict this smoke plume but usually require non-trivial, on-scene meteorological measurements and a skilled operator, to run successfully. While such requirements are reasonable in the case of an actual burn event, there are situations when less data and expertise are available and less accuracy is required. Such situations include screening scenarios for planning purposes and early feasibility studies. NOAA/HAZMAT has developed a smoke plume screening tool as part of the redesign of its oil behavior and fate model. The model assumes a Gaussian distribution where the source 'height' is determined by estimating plume rise. Different dispersion parameters and wind profiles are used depending upon atmospheric stability class. The model calculates smoke concentrations for both neutral and stable situations, the two likely cases for open water conditions. The output from the model is a ground level composite bounding footprint of smoke concentration, taking into account the different stability situations. Model results are compared with a more complicated model and experimental burn results in order to estimate the degree of accuracy that can be expected with such a screening tool. (author)