Improvement in Plume Dispersion Formulas for Stack Emissions Using Ground-based Imaging-DOAS Data

This study introduces a new method of combining Imaging Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (Imaging-DOAS) data and plume dispersion formulas for power plant emissions to determine the three-dimensional structure of a dispersing pollution plume and the spatial distributions of trace gas volume mixing ratios (VMRs) under conditions of negligible water droplet and aerosol effects on radiative transfer within the plume. This novel remote-sensing method, applied to a power plant stack plume, was used to calculate the two-dimensional distributions of sulfur dioxide ($SO_2$) and nitrogen dioxide ($NO_2$) VMRs in stack emissions for the first time. High $SO_2$ VMRs were observed only near the emission source, whereas high $NO_2$ VMRs were observed at locations several hundreds of meters away from the initial emission. The results of this study demonstrate the capability of this new method as a tool for estimating plume dimensions and trace gas VMRs in power plant emissions.