Photogrammetric and photometric investigation of a smoke plume viewed from space.

Abstract Detailed analyses of an Apollo 6 stereographic photograph of a smoke plume which originated in southern Arizona and crossed over into Mexico are presented to illustrate how high-resolution photography can aid meteorologists in evaluating specific air pollution events. Photogrammetric analysis of the visible smoke plume revealed the plume was 8.06 mi long and attained a maximum width of 4000 ft, 3.0 mi from the 570-ft chimney emitting the effluent. Stereometric analysis showed that the visible top of the plume rose nearly 2400 ft above stack top, attaining 90% of this total rise 1.75 mi downwind from the source. Photometric analysis of the plume revealed a field of plume optical density that portrayed leptokurtic and bimodal distributions rather than a true Gaussian distribution. A horizontal eddy diffusivity of about 6.5 × 105 cm2 sec−1 and a vertical eddy diffusivity of 2.3 × 105 cm2 sec−1 were determined from the plume dimensions. Neutron activation analysis of plume samples revealed the elemen...