The HYSPLIT Model Transport and Dispersion System

1
The HYSPLIT Model Transport and Dispersion System

• Roland Draxler, Barbara Stunder, and Glenn Rolph
• NOAA Air Resources Laboratory (ARL)
• Silver Spring, MD

2

• Why dispersion modeling?
• Radiological Regional Specialized
  Meteorological Center (RSMC) Washington per WMO
  Documentation on RSMC Support for Environmental
  Emergency Response (WMO-TD/No. 778)
• Volcanic ash
• NOAA-FAA MOU on Volcanic Hazards Alert
• Volcanic Ash Advisory Centers (Washington and
  Anchorage) per ICAO International Standards and
  Recommended Practices Annex 3 to the Convention
  on International Civil Aviation, Meteorological
  Service for International Air Navigation
• Homeland Security support WFOs
• ICAO International Civil Aviation Organization

3
System Description

• Current Version
• Scripts and executables for each application
  (radiological, volcanic ash, homeland security)
• Data and options hardwired

• New Version
• Single executable
• Options controlled by unified pre- and
  post-processing scripts
• Software self-contained for easy installation at
  backup facilities

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Meteorology
Current Version New Version
radiological GFS on-demand (3 h) -- 100 km subgrid GFS pre-processed -- one-degree global -- 3 hourly Eta pre-processed -- 12km (CONUS) -- 3 hourly NMM on-demand -- 4 km (hourly)
volcanic ash GFS pre-processed (6 h) -- 191 km N/S hemispheric -- comparable tropical GFS pre-processed -- one-degree global -- 3 hourly Eta pre-processed -- 12km (CONUS) -- 3 hourly NMM on-demand -- 4 km (hourly)
hls Eta pre-processed (3 h) --12 km (CONUS) NMM-4 km on-demand (1 h) GFS pre-processed -- one-degree global -- 3 hourly Eta pre-processed -- 12km (CONUS) -- 3 hourly NMM on-demand -- 4 km (hourly)
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hls
Current version - input menu summaries
(note variability)
PLEASE VERIFY/EDIT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION 1)
ORG DESCRIPTION sdm
2) RUN DESCRIPTION Test
run of the on-demand HYSPLIT Model 3)
METEOROLOGICAL FIELDS ETA 4) SOURCE
IDENTIFICATION NAME TEST 5) SOURCE
LATITUDE (- is SOUTH) 40.0 6) SOURCE
LONGITUDE (- is WEST) -90.0 7) (RELEASE
TIME) YEAR 2004 8)
(RELEASE TIME) MONTH 07 9)
(RELEASE TIME) DAY
19 10) (RELEASE TIME) HOUR
19 11) RELEASE DURATION (HOURS) 1 12)
TOP OF RELEASE (METERS) 50 13)
System Priority
LOW 14) View/Edit Advanced
Parameters ENTER NUMBER TO EDIT OR (Y) TO ACCEPT
VALUES
radiological
VAFTAD
PLEASE VERIFY/EDIT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION 1)
SIMULATION TYPE Test of the
RSMC Response System 2) METEOROLOGICAL FIELDS
AVN 3) SITE IDENTIFICATION NAME
CALVERT_CLIFFS-1 4) SITE LATITUDE (- is SOUTH)
38.43 5) SITE LONGITUDE (- is WEST)
-76.44 6) (RELEASE TIME) YEAR
2004 7) (RELEASE TIME) MONTH 07 8)
(RELEASE TIME) DAY 19 9)
(RELEASE TIME) HOUR 18 10)
View/Edit Advanced Parameters ENTER NUMBER TO
EDIT OR (Y) TO ACCEPT VALUES
PLEASE VERIFY THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION YOU HAVE
ENTERED 1) ORG DESCRIPTION SDM 2)
DESCRIPTION 1 (TEST - NO ALERT) 3)
REGION 8 (N HEMIS - SUBGRID
AVN) 4) MAP CENTER LAT 50. 5) MAP
CENTER LON -110. 6) MAP RADIUS (DEG)
30 7) VOLCANO NAME
MT_ST_HELENS 8)
VOLCANO LAT 46.20 9) VOLCANO LON
122.18 10) VOLCANO HEIGHT 8363 11)
ERUPTION HOUR 12 12) ERUPTION DAY
19 13) ERUPTION MONTH 07 14) ERUPTION
YEAR 2004 15) ERUPTION DURATION
01 16) ASH COLUMN TOP 32,000 ARE THE
VALUES CORRECT (Y/N)
VERIFY/EDIT ADVANCED PARAMETER SETTINGS 1) RUN
DURATION (HOURS) 48 2) EMISSION
RATE (MASS/HOUR) 1.0000 do not change
emission rate unless it is known 3) BASE OF
RELEASE (METERS) 10 4) (SAMPLING START)
YEAR 2004 5) (SAMPLING START) MONTH
07 6) (SAMPLING START) DAY
19 7) TOP OF CONCENTRATION OUTPUT LAYER
(METERS) 500 ENTER NUMBER TO EDIT OR (Y) TO
ACCEPT VALUES
VERIFY/EDIT ADVANCED PARAMETER SETTINGS 1) RUN
DURATION 72 2) RELEASE
DURATION 6 3) EMMISION RATE
0.1667 4) BASE OF RELEASE 10
5) TOP OF RELEASE 500 6)
POLLUTANT SPECIES C137 7) (SAMPLING
START) YEAR 2004 8) (SAMPLING START)
MONTH 07 9) (SAMPLING START) DAY
19 ENTER NUMBER TO EDIT OR (Y) TO ACCEPT VALUES
METEOROLOGICAL FIELDS ----------------------------
------------ 1 ETA (12 km) 2 High Resolution
Window (4 km) ------------------------------------
---- ENTER MODEL DESCRIPTION NUMBER
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New version - review menu summaries (note
similarity)
volcanic ash
radiological
hls

• THIS IS THE REVIEW MENU... VERIFY/EDIT
• THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION
• 1) RUN DESCRIPTION
• volcanic ash - test
• 2) METEOROLOGICAL DATA GFS
• 3) VOLCANO NAME ST._HELENS
• 4) VOLCANO LATITUDE
• (SOUTH IS NEGATIVE) 46.20
• 5) VOLCANO LONGITUDE
• (WEST IS NEGATIVE) -122.18
• SUMMIT HEIGHT
• (enter 15 for advanced parameters)
• 6) (RELEASE TIME) YEAR 2004
• 7) (RELEASE TIME) MONTH 07
• 8) (RELEASE TIME) DAY 19
• 9) (RELEASE TIME) HOUR 12
• 10) (RELEASE TIME) MINUTE 00
• 11) ERUPTION DURATION (hours) 1.0

THIS IS THE REVIEW MENU... VERIFY/EDIT THE
FOLLOWING INFORMATION 1) RUN DESCRIPTION
Test of the RSMC Response System 2)
METEOROLOGICAL DATA GFS 3)
SITE NAME CALVERT_CLIFFS-1 4)
SITE LATITUDE (SOUTH IS NEGATIVE) 38.43 5)
SITE LONGITUDE (WEST IS NEGATIVE) -76.44
6) (RELEASE TIME) YEAR 2004
7) (RELEASE TIME) MONTH 07 8)
(RELEASE TIME) DAY 19 9)
(RELEASE TIME) HOUR 18 10)
(RELEASE TIME) MINUTE 00 11) RELEASE
DURATION (hours) 6.0 12) TOP OF RELEASE
(meters, minimum 10) 500 13) RESULTS BASED ON
DEFAULT INITIAL VALUES label (0no 1yes)
1 14) N/A 15) View/Edit Advanced
Parameters ENTER NUMBER TO EDIT OR (Y) TO ACCEPT
VALUES
THIS IS THE REVIEW MENU... VERIFY/EDIT THE
FOLLOWING INFORMATION 1) RUN DESCRIPTION
Test run of the on-demand
HYSPLIT Model 2) METEOROLOGICAL DATA
ETA 3) SITE NAME
TEST 4) SITE LATITUDE (SOUTH IS NEGATIVE)
40. 5) SITE LONGITUDE (WEST IS NEGATIVE)
-90. 6) (RELEASE TIME) YEAR
2004 7) (RELEASE TIME) MONTH
07 8) (RELEASE TIME) DAY
19 9) (RELEASE TIME) HOUR
18 10) (RELEASE TIME) MINUTE
00 11) RELEASE DURATION (hours) 1.0 12)
TOP OF RELEASE (meters, minimum 10) 50 13)
N/A 14) N/A 15) View/Edit Advanced
Parameters ENTER NUMBER TO EDIT OR (Y) TO ACCEPT
VALUES
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New Version User Input via setup_hysplit script

• user is prompted for inputs
• run type (radiological, volcanic ash, hls)
• event location, release/eruption height and
  duration
• meteorology
• labeling information (test, etc.)
• then given chance to edit inputs and defaulted
  date/time of incident in the Review Menu
• Advanced Parameters Menu is last option
  listed in the Review Menu
• contains less typically changed values
• output grid specs (center lat,lon, span, grid
  spacing, etc.)
• source specs (emission rate, particle/gas,
  deposition constants, half-life, etc.)
• model specs (puff/particle/combination, number
  of particles, etc.)
• not all features are available in all run
  types, but could easily be added
• SDMs and NWS/Alaska Aviation Weather Unit MIC
  have been trained in the setup script.

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New version - Review Menu radiological example
THIS IS THE REVIEW MENU... VERIFY/EDIT THE
FOLLOWING INFORMATION 1) RUN DESCRIPTION
Test of the RSMC Response System 2)
METEOROLOGICAL DATA ETA 3)
SITE NAME
CALVERT_CLIFFS-1 4) SITE LATITUDE (SOUTH
IS NEGATIVE) 38.43 5) SITE LONGITUDE (WEST
IS NEGATIVE) -76.44 6) (RELEASE TIME) YEAR
2004 7) (RELEASE TIME)
MONTH 07 8) (RELEASE TIME)
DAY 19 9) (RELEASE
TIME) HOUR 18 10)
(RELEASE TIME) MINUTE 00 11)
RELEASE DURATION (hours) 6.0 12)
TOP OF RELEASE (meters, minimum 10) 500 13)
RESULTS BASED ON DEFAULT INITIAL VALUES label
(0no 1yes) 1 14) N/A 15) View/Edit
Advanced Parameters ENTER NUMBER TO EDIT OR (Y)
TO ACCEPT VALUES
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New version - Advanced Parameters Menu
radiological example
THIS IS THE ADVANCED PARAMETERS MENU...
VERIFY/EDIT THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION. 1) RUN
DURATION (hours) 72 2) EMISSION RATE (per
hour) 0.1667 3) BASE OF RELEASE (meters)
10 4) CONCENTRATION GRID 1 5) N/A 6)
POLLUTANT C137 7) SETUP.CFG
parameters 8) N/A 9) N/A 10) N/A 11) 2nd
METEOROLOGY (use after ETA) undefined 12) N/A
13) RUN SEQUENCE NUMBER 01 14) Override
label CALVERT_CLIFFS-1 to TEST (0no 1yes)
0 ENTER NUMBER TO EDIT OR (Y) TO ACCEPT VALUES
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New version - Advanced Parameters submenus
radiological
VERIFY/EDIT CONC GRID 1 PARAMETER SETTINGS
1) (SAMPLING START) YEAR 2004 2)
(SAMPLING START) MONTH 07 3) (SAMPLING
START) DAY 19 4) TOP OF
CONCENTRATION OUTPUT LAYER (m) 500 5)
CENTER OF CONCENTRATION GRID LATITUDE
38.43 6) CENTER OF CONCENTRATION GRID
LONGITUDE -76.44 7) CONC GRID SPACING
(decimal degrees) DLAT 0.3 8) CONC GRID
SPACING (decimal degrees) DLON 0.3 9) CONC
GRID SPAN (degrees) SPLAT 90. 10) CONC
GRID SPAN (degrees) SPLON 180. 11) OUTPUT
AVERAGING TIME (hours) 24 12) N/A ENTER
NUMBER TO EDIT OR (Y) TO ACCEPT VALUES
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New version - Advanced Parameters submenus
radiological (cont)
VERIFY/EDIT POLLUTANT PARAMETER SETTINGS 1)
POLLUTANT ID C137 2)
SET ALL DEFAULT DEPOSITION VALUES 3) DRY
DEPOSITION VELOCITY (m/s) .001 4) WET
DEPOSITION IN-CLOUD (L/L) 3.2E5 5) WET
DEPOSITION BELOW-CLOUD (/s) 5.0E-5 6)
RADIOACTIVE HALF-LIFE (days) 10960. ENTER
NUMBER TO EDIT OR (Y) TO ACCEPT VALUES
12
New version - Advanced Parameters submenus
radiological (cont)
VERIFY/EDIT SETUP.CFG PARAMETER SETTINGS 1)
INITD (initial distribution) 4 2) KHMAX
(maximum part duration, h) 9999 3) NUMPAR
(number of part to release) 500 4) ISOT
(turbulence) 0 5) NDUMP (write
PARDUMP) 0 6) KMSL (starting
height reference) 0 7) reset defaults ENTER
NUMBER TO EDIT OR (Y) TO ACCEPT VALUES
13
New Version Output post-processing

• dependent on requirement/customer
• postscript, GIF, G3, GIS shapefile, GRIB for
  NAWIPS

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Radiological Application

• Current Version
• HYSPLIT 4.2, Nov 1999
• 100-km GFS on demand
• Limited input in setup script

• New Version
• HYSPLIT 4.7, Dec 2003
• 1-deg GFS pre-processed
• and/or ETA-12, NMM-4
• More options in advanced menu
• Improved model physics
• Gaussian random numbers
• Non-homogeneous turbulence correction (stays well
  mixed)
• Option to use of ETA TKE fields
• Turbulent velocities for 3D dispersion
• Latitude-longitude input data grids
• Dynamic array allocation
• Multi-processor simulations

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Radiological Example(shows sensitivity of
dispersion to deformation field)

• Current Version (AVN)

• New Version (ETA)

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Volcanic Ash Application

• New Version
• HYSPLIT 4.7, Dec 2003
• 1-deg global GFS pre-processed
• and/or ETA-12
• Variable integration time step (usually 12 min)
• Particle initialization set in model control file
• Eruption durations from smallest model time step
  to run duration permitted
• Automatic map optimization and scaling
• Internal terrain following coordinate system
• Ash reduction done automatically

• Current Version
• VAFTAD code last revised 1999
• 190-km GFS hemispheric grids
• Fixed 1-h integration time step
• Fixed particle size and mass distributions
• Choice of fixed eruption durations from 1 to 24
  hours
• Pre-configured map domains
• Internal pressure coordinate system
• Model rerun for ash reductions

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Volcanic Ash Example Soufrierre Hills,
Montserrat Dec 1997

• Current Version (VAFTAD)

• New Version (HYSPLIT)

• composite layer shown
• archived meteorology

Valid 12 UTC Dec 26
Valid 18 UTC Dec 26
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Volcanic Ash Example (cont.)

• New Version (HYSPLIT, archived
  meteorology)

VAAC analysis
Valid 15 UTC Dec. 26
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Homeland Security Applications

• Current Version
• HYSPLIT version 4.x
• Fine scale output every 3h (3h to 12h)
• Coarse output every 6h (18h to 48h)

• New Version
• HYSPLIT 4.7, Dec 2003
• Fine scale output every 1h (1h to 4h)
• Coarse output every 3h (7h to 22h) 

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Homeland Security Example

• New Version

• Current Version

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Future Upgrades Currently Being Tested

• Extend existing CONUS Eta to 84 hours
• Additional meteorological data grids
• Eta over Alaska/North Pacific
• CONUS Eta grid with hourly fields
• Higher resolution GFS (0.5 deg)
• Convert from pressure NMM to native sigma
  coordinates
• Output grids
• Hourly volcanic ash output for NAWIPS
• Host RSMC web page at NCEP
• Model Physics
• Automatic particle-puff transformations
• Short-range dispersion algorithms
• Partitioning TKE between horizontal and vertical
• Ensemble dispersion forecasts based on NCEP
  short-range and global ensembles

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Potential New Applications

• Forest fire smoke transport and dispersion
• Simple ozone chemistry (3-equation steady state
  or 7-equation differential solution)
• PM10 air concentrations from dust storms
• 2-D transport on water surfaces
• Internal offset trajectory based ensemble
• Satellite assimilation