A Study of Air Dispersion Modeling in Highway Environmental Impact Assessment

In order to choose proper dispersion model and emission factors suitable in Korea in evaluating the effect of pollutants emitted by the vehicles in highway on nearby area, various road dispersion models and vehicle emission factors were reviewed. With theoretical inter-comparisons of the exiting models for line source, CALINE 3 and CALINE 4 models which were suggested by US EPA were selected as the road dispersion models for further evaluation with the measurement. The emission factors suggested by Korean Ministry of Environment was turned out to be appropriate since the classification of vehicle kinds was simple and easy to apply in Korea. The comparisons of predicted concentrations by CALINE 3 and 4 models with the measurements in flat, fill and bridge road types showed that CO and PM-10 were in good agreements with experiments and the differences between CALINE 3 and 4 models are negligible. The model concentrations of by CALINE 4 were also in good agreement with the measurement but those by CALINE 3 were over-predicted. The discrepancies in CALINE 3 model were due to rapid decay reaction of near the highway, which was not included in CALINE 3 model. For the road type with one & two side cutting grounds, the similar patterns as the flat & fill road type for CO, PM10, & were observed but the number of data for comparison in these cases were not enough to draw the conclusion. These results lead to the conclusion that CALINE4 model is proper in road environmental impact assessment near the highway in flat, fill and bridge road types.