Author(s)

H. A. Affum^1*, E. H. K. Akaho², J. J. Niemela³, V. Armenio⁴, K. A. Danso²

¹Department of Nuclear Sciences and Application, School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
²Department of Nuclear Engineering, School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana.
³Applied Physics Section, International Centre for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy.
⁴Dipartimento di Ingegneria e Architettura, Universita di Trieste, Trieste, Italia.

The performance of the California Puff (CALPUFF) modelling system has been evaluated using a case study in Ghana. The performance evaluation consisted of a quantitative comparison of dispersion simulation results of SO₂ and NO₂ with measurements at the Tema Oil Refinery, and meteorological simulation results with observations from the Tema Meteorological Station, both in the Greater Accra region of Ghana. Four statistical indicators—Index of Agreement (IOA), Fractional Bias (FB), Normalized Mean Square Error (NMSE) and the Pearson correlation coefficient(R) employed in the assessment indicate sufficient reliability of both CALPUFF and its meteorological simulator, CALMET. IOA values of 0.73 and 0.67 and FB values of 1.65 and 1.42 were obtained for SO₂ and NO₂ respectively. IOA between measured and modelled emissions were 0.72 and 0.69 for SO₂ and NO₂ respectively. The correlations between the simulated and observed emission were 0.66 and 0.08 for SO₂ and NO₂ respectively. An IOA value of 0.66 was obtained for both wind speed and wind direction with correlations of 0.29 and 0.58 in comparison with observations from the meteorological station.

Performance Evaluation, Emissions, Dispersion, Observations

Affum, H. , Akaho, E. , Niemela, J. , Armenio, V. and Danso, K. (2016) Validating the California Puff (CALPUFF) Modelling System Using an Industrial Area in Accra, Ghana as a Case Study. Open Journal of Air Pollution, 5, 27-36. doi: 10.4236/ojap.2016.51003.