<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">An economical and easy-to-implement technique is outlined by which the mean nocturnal atmospheric mixing state (“stability”) can be assessed over a broad (city-scale) heterogeneous region solely based on near-surface (2 m above ground level [a.g.l.]) observations of the passive tracer radon-222. The results presented here are mainly based on summer data of hourly meteorological and radon observations near Łodź, Central Poland, from 4 years (2008–2011). Behaviour of the near-surface wind speed and vertical temperature gradient (the primary controls of the nocturnal atmospheric mixing state), as well as the urban heat island intensity, are investigated within each of the four radon-based nocturnal stability categories derived for this study (least stable, weakly stable, moderately stable, and stable). On average, the most (least) stable nights were characterized by vertical temperature gradient of 1.1 (0.5)°C·m−1, wind speed of ~0.4 (~1.0) m·s−1, and urban heat island intensity of 4.5 (0.5)°C. For sites more than 20 km inland from the coast, where soils are not completely saturated or frozen, radon-based nocturnal stability classification can significantly enhance and simplify a range of environmental research applications (e.g. urban climate studies, urban pollution studies, regulatory dispersion modelling, and evaluating the performance of regional climate and pollution models).</abstract>

An economical and easy-to-implement technique is outlined by which the mean nocturnal atmospheric mixing state (“stability”) can be assessed over a broad (city-scale) heterogeneous region solely based on near-surface (2 m above ground level [a.g.l.]) observations of the passive tracer radon-222. The results presented here are mainly based on summer data of hourly meteorological and radon observations near Łodź, Central Poland, from 4 years (2008–2011). Behaviour of the near-surface wind speed and vertical temperature gradient (the primary controls of the nocturnal atmospheric mixing state), as well as the urban heat island intensity, are investigated within each of the four radon-based nocturnal stability categories derived for this study (least stable, weakly stable, moderately stable, and stable). On average, the most (least) stable nights were characterized by vertical temperature gradient of 1.1 (0.5)°C·m−1, wind speed of ~0.4 (~1.0) m·s−1, and urban heat island intensity of 4.5 (0.5)°C. For sites more than 20 km inland from the coast, where soils are not completely saturated or frozen, radon-based nocturnal stability classification can significantly enhance and simplify a range of environmental research applications (e.g. urban climate studies, urban pollution studies, regulatory dispersion modelling, and evaluating the performance of regional climate and pollution models).

Radon-based technique for the analysis of atmospheric stability – a case study from Central Poland

Department of Meteorology and Climatology, Faculty of Geographical Sciences

ANSTO Institute for Environmental Research

Nukleonika

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

An economical and easy-to-implement technique is outlined by which the mean nocturnal atmospheric mixing state (“stability”) can be assessed over a broad...

Radon-based technique for the analysis of atmospheric stability – a case study from Central Poland

Published Online: Jul 31, 2018

Page range: 47 - 54

Received: Feb 05, 2018

Accepted: May 25, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nuka-2018-0006

Keywords
radon-222, Central Poland, stability classification, stable nocturnal boundary layer, atmospheric mixing state

© 2018 Agnieszka Podstawczyńska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Radon-based technique for the analysis of atmospheric stability – a case study from Central Poland

Published Online: Jul 31, 2018

Page range: 47 - 54

Received: Feb 05, 2018

Accepted: May 25, 2018

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nuka-2018-0006

Keywordsradon-222, Central Poland, stability classification, stable nocturnal boundary layer, atmospheric mixing state

© 2018 Agnieszka Podstawczyńska et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Keywords
radon-222, Central Poland, stability classification, stable nocturnal boundary layer, atmospheric mixing state