Scattering Cross-Section Emission Factors for Visibility and Radiative Transfer Applications: Military Vehicles Traveling on Unpaved Roads

Abstract

Emission factors for particulate matter (PM) are generally reported as mass emission factors (PM mass emitted per time or activity) as appropriate for air quality standards based on mass concentration. However, for visibility and radiative transfer applications, scattering, absorption, and extinction coefficients are the parameters of interest, with visibility standards based on extinction coefficients. These coefficients (dimension of inverse distance) equal cross‐section concentrations, and, therefore, cross‐section emission factors are appropriate. Scattering cross‐section emission factors were determined for dust entrainment by nine vehicles, ranging from light passenger vehicles to heavy military vehicles, traveling on an unpaved road. Each vehicle made multiple passes at multiple speeds while scattering and absorption coefficients, wind velocity and dust plume profiles, and additional parameters were measured downwind of the road. Light absorption of the entrained PM was negligible, and the light extinction was primarily caused by scattering. The resulting scattering cross‐section emission factors per vehicle kilometer traveled (vkt) range from 12.5 m²/vkt for a slow (16 km/ hr), light (1176 kg) vehicle to 3724 m²/vkt for a fast (64 km/hr), heavy (17,727 kg) vehicle and generally increase with vehicle speed and mass. The increase is approximately linear with speed, yielding emission factors per vkt and speed ranging from 4.2 m²/(vkt km/hr) to 53 m²/(vkt km/hr). These emission factors depend approximately linearly on vehicle mass within the groups of light (vehicle mass ≤3100 kg) and heavy (vehicle mass >8000 kg) vehicles yielding emission factors per vkt, speed, and mass of 0.0056 m²/(vkt km/hr kg) and 0.0024 m²/(vkt km/hr kg), respectively. Comparison of the scattering cross‐section and PM mass emission factors yields average mass scattering efficiencies of 1.5 m²/g for the light vehicles and of 0.8 m²/g for the heavy vehicles indicating that the heavy vehicles entrain larger particles than the light vehicles.