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Tool

Developer(s):
  • Australian Bureau of Meteorology
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
Contact(s):
  • National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Air Resources Laboratory

The HYSPLIT (HYbrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) model is the newest version of a complete system for computing simple air parcel trajectories to complex dispersion and deposition simulations. As a result of a joint effort between NOAA and Australia's Bureau of Meteorology, the model has recently been upgraded. New features include improved advection algorithms, updated stability and dispersion equations, a new graphical user interface, and the option to include modules for chemical transformations. Without the additional dispersion modules, Hysplit computes the advection of a single pollutant particle, or simply its trajectory. The dispersion of a pollutant is calculated by assuming either puff or particle dispersion. In the puff model, puffs expand until they exceed the size of the meteorological grid cell (either horizontally or vertically) and then split into several new puffs, each with its share of the pollutant mass. In the particle model, a fixed number of initial particles are advected about the model domain by the mean wind field and a turbulent component. The model's default configuration assumes a puff distribution in the horizontal and particle dispersion in the vertical direction. In this way, the greater accuracy of the vertical dispersion parameterization of the particle model is combined with the advantage of having an ever expanding number of particles represent the pollutant distribution. The model can be run interactively on the Web through the READY system on our site or the code executable and meteorological data can be downloaded to a Windows PC. The Web version has been configured with some limitations to avoid computational saturation of our web server. The registered PC version is complete with no computational restrictions, except that user's must obtain their own meteorological data files. The unregistered version is identical to the registered version except that it will not work with forecast meteorology data files.

Online Link(s):

Cataloging Information

Topics:
Regions:
Alaska    California    Eastern    Great Basin    Hawaii    Northern Rockies    Northwest    Rocky Mountain    Southern    Southwest    International    National
Keywords:
  • advection
  • air pollution
  • dispersion
  • pollutants
  • puff model
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 15692