Search

Rapid analysis of transport and diffusion of chemical and biological aerosols and contaminants in an urban environment is a critical part of any homeland security response team. High performance computing (HPC) is a valuable technique for such analysis. The time constraint needed to create fully developed complex 3D city terrain models to support such dispersion simulations requires a task of converting agency data to the format necessary on the simulation platform. Numerous data sets have been employed in the development of complex 3D city models. Such data include the use of multi-layer building morphology data, the use of geographic information system (GIS) based shapefiles and digital elevation models (DEM), and the use of remote sensing data such as Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR). The constructed geometry models are used to generate large-scale computational domains on a platform that supports our HPC tools. These tools include fully automated unstructured mesh generation, parallel and scalable flow solvers based on stabilized finite element formulations and a remote client-server environment for large-scale flow visualization. The stabilized finite element formulations, which are based on the SUPG and PSPG techniques, are parallelized and vectorized on the Cray X1. The 3D validation problem involves transient simulation of flow past a building with a source point releasing traces. A 3D application problem is presented to demonstrate the capability of the integrated HPC tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of primary biological aerosol particles (PBAPs) have been conducted worldwide using ultraviolet light-induced fluorescence (UV-LIF) spectrometers. However, how these instruments detect and respond to known biological and non-biological particles, and how they compare, remains uncertain due to limited laboratory intercomparisons. Using the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Aerosol Challenge Simulator (ACS), controlled concentrations of biological and non-biological aerosol particles, singly or as mixtures, were produced for testing and intercomparison of multiple versions of the Wideband Integrated Bioaerosol Spectrometer (WIBS) and Multiparameter Bioaerosol Spectrometer (MBS). Although the results suggest some challenges in discriminating biological particle types across different versions of the same UV-LIF instrument, a difference in fluorescence intensity between the non-biological and biological samples could be identified for most instruments. While lower concentrations of fluorescent particles were detected by the MBS, the MBS demonstrates the potential to discriminate between pollen and other biological particles. This study presents the first published technical summary and use of the ACS for instrument intercomparisons. Within this work a clear overview of the data pre-processing is also presented, and documentation of instrument version/model numbers is suggested to assess potential instrument variations between different versions of the same instrument. Further laboratory studies sampling different particle types are suggested before use in quantifying impact on ambient classification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]