PNNL

Abstract

The Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory Model (HYSPLIT) calculates forward and backward trajectories of particles based on wind speeds, wind directions, and the corresponding locations, timestamps, and stabilities of continuous meteorological measurements. The computed particle transport trajectories, combined with the online Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS) data, can be used to identify and quantify the sources and influenced area of the hazardous chemicals’ emission using the Potential Source Distribution Function (PSDF). PSDF is an improved statistical function based on the well-known Potential Source Contribution Function (PSCF) in establishing the air pollutant source and receptor relationship. Performing this analysis requires a range of meteorological and pollutant concentration measurements to be statistically meaningful. The existing HYSPLIT Graphical User Interface (GUI) does not easily permit computations of trajectories of a dataset of meteorological data containing weekly or monthly measurements of high acquisition frequency. To improve the performance of trajectories computation from a large dataset and enhance risk analysis of the accidental release of material at risk, a Geospatial Risk Analysis Tool (GRAT-GUI) is created to allow large data sets to be processed instantaneously and provide ease of visualization.