New method to calculate wind erosion emissions

Modelling wind erosion emissions from open areas is considered a very complex task. It requires the use of data inputs which may not be available for the areas under investigation, and also the use of empirical and semi-empirical algorithms. A comprehensive literature review was conducted with the aim to find a suitable modelling approach for emission inventory development. The proposed method is mainly based on the work of Y. Shao, which is considered one of the most accepted methods to calculate emissions for wind erosion. Parametrisation algorithms and experimental findings from other researchers were also used. The proposed method was adapted to use variables like relative humidity, moisture content, rainfall, and soil texture to ensure predictions included variables that are known to significantly affect emissions. Large reclaimed land areas at Port of Brisbane were selected as significant dust sources for validation due to their large extent, simple landscape and soil composition (sand-based). Limited and preliminary validation was conducted using meteorological data and measured PM10 concentrations from monitoring stations located at Bingera Drive (Fisherman Island) and Lytton, Queensland, Australia. Validation results indicated reasonably comparable PM10 predictions to the observed readings. The surface roughness (z0) and a constant (K) variables were calibrated using to improve model performance. Further work will require the validation of the proposed method for soil textures other than sand-based soils. Due to the high complexity of modelling wind erosion emissions and the results from the validation analysis, it is considered that the proposed method demonstrates overall acceptable performance.