Abstract
Complex terrain which is rather typical topographic character in Korea would greatly influence the dispersion of air pollutant. In this study, we investigated how the complex terrain in the vicinity of the coal-fired plant affects the air dispersion modeling results by using several US EPA models: SCREEN, CTSCREEN, ISCLT3, ISCST3, and RTDM. Screening analysis was followed by long-term analysis, and the plume movement over the terrain was precisely tracked for selected cases. Screening analysis revealed that the highest concentration of sulfur dioxide occurs at the downwind distance of 1.3 km under the unstable conditions with weak winds. However, this highest level of $SO_2$ could be raised by 4 times even in the presence of a hill of 170 m at a distance of 2 to 3 km. Seasonal and annual average concentrations predicted with the ISCLT3, ISCST3, and RTDM models showed a rapid incrase of $SO_2$ levels in front of the high mountains which are located more than 15 km away fromt the source. The highest concentrations predicted with ISCST3 were significantly higher than those with ISCLT3 and RTDM mainly because ISCST3 chooses simple-terrain model calculations for receptors between stack height and plume height. Although the highest levels under the stable conditions were usually found in the areas beyond 15 km or more, their absolute values were not so high due to enough dispersion effects between the source and the receptors.
