ACP Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ACP 1680-7324 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acp-10-2551-2010 Parameterization of subgrid plume dilution for use in large-scale atmospheric simulations Naiman A. D. 1 Lele S. K. 1 Wilkerson J. T. 2 Jacobson M. Z. 2 Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA Civil and Environmental Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA 12 03 2010 10 5 2551 2560 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/2551/2010/acp-10-2551-2010.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/2551/2010/acp-10-2551-2010.pdf

A new model of plume dynamics has been developed for use as a subgrid model of plume dilution in a large-scale atmospheric simulation. The model uses mean wind, shear, and diffusion parameters derived from the local large-scale variables to advance the plume cross-sectional shape and area in time. Comparisons with a large eddy simulation of aircraft emission plume dynamics, with an analytical solution to the dynamics of a sheared Gaussian plume, and with measurements of aircraft exhaust plume dilution at cruise altitude show good agreement with these previous studies. We argue that the model also provides a reasonable approximation of line-shaped contrail dilution and give an example of how it can be applied in a global climate model.

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