Odor setback distance calculations around animal farms and solid waste landfills

ODOR-TRANSMISSION (OT) is a regulatory model for estimating odor setback distances around livestock production farms and municipal solid waste landfills on virtual maps prepared by an interdisciplinary team. This paper describes the development of the model, odor emission and dispersion calculations, and visualization techniques. The atmospheric dispersion simulation portion is based on HNS-TRANSMISSION, an air quality model published by Szepesi et al. (2005), while the odor emission module is adapted mostly from U.S.A. results, e.g., Guo et al. (2004). As a new development, estimated setback distances from an odor source are presented on virtual maps. The main characteristics of the OT model can be found in the model catalogue system of the European Environmental Agency. A case study for a municipal solid waste landfill is also included. Furthermore, a comparison study with other odor setback distance calculation methods shows that reliable results can be obtained by using the OT model.