A Framework for Air Dispersion Modeling – A Hypothetical Case of Port Operations

One of the primary modes for pollutants to reach the human body is through their release into the atmosphere and dispersion in the nearby areas. This makes air emissions one of the important components of an environmental assessment. They are frequently of interest to the people living in the vicinity of the site. The analysis carried out in this research provides a framework for atmospheric dispersion modeling of air pollutants using AERMOD, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) approved regulatory model, for modeling port related emissions. There are various sources of emissions from the ports, however for this study, emissions from roadways, small equipment, and marine related sources are considered. AERMOD was used to estimate ambient pollutant concentrations of selective criteria pollutants such as NOx, SO2, CO and PM10 from a hypothetical port