Application of a modeling system aimed at studying the impact on air quality of a waste storage fire

Outdoor fires, including wildfires, prescribed burns, slash burns, and agricultural field burning can emit significant amounts of particulate matter and gaseous pollutants into the atmosphere, which can have severe effect on local and regional air quality. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact on air quality of a waste storage fire, using a dispersion modeling system developed by Arianet©. The system includes a micrometeorological processor to reproduce the meteorology and the atmospheric turbulence and a lagrangian dispersion model to simulate the dispersion of inert pollutants on the local scale. A crucial issue was the accuracy in characterizing the emission source. Model results were compared with measured concentrations at air quality monitoring stations.