Aviation Safety Can Benefit from Simulation of the Dispersion of Hazardous Material

Commercial aviation uses extensive modeling to predict weather events but ignores large-scale atmospheric pollution events. The safety of air travel can be markedly enhanced by computer models that demonstrate the dispersion patterns of airborne materials such as volcanic ash or toxic chemicals. The preparation of such models requires the determination of a source term, the formulation of a tracer model, and the gathering of meteorological data. The source term describes the event during which the airborne material was discharged. The tracer model is developed in accordance with the character of a particular region's horizontal resolution. Critical meteorological parameters include geopotential height, relative humidity, and wind velocity.