Assessment and Computerized Modeling of the Environmental Deposition of Military Smokes: Analysis of Meteorological Data from the AMADEUS Smoke Dispersion Experiments

This report summarizes the meteorological data collected as part of the AMADEUS dispersion experiments. In addition, a preliminary analysis of these data was carried out. Averages of the surface-station and micrometeorological measurements were computed for each of 12 smoke release periods. Also, the stability of the atmosphere during these tests was characterized by analyzing (1) the standard deviation of the horizontal wind direction; (2) the bulk Richardson number; (3) the vertical profiles of wind and atmospheric temperature; and (4) direct measurements of the vertical heat and momentum fluxes. For four of the five daytime releases, the height of the boundary layer was determined from instrumented balloon soundings. Results show that the meteorological data are complete and consistent, both internally and with other studies of the atmospheric boundary level. The daytime convective conditions reveal a high degree of coherency, whereas the nighttime stable conditions are more spatially heterogeneous and less coherent. The stable boundary layer is generally less well understood than is the convective boundary layer, especially in a complex terrain setting. The data appear to offer significant potential for improving the state of dispersion modeling in this important area.