IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/nathaz/v88y2017i3d10.1007_s11069-017-2936-x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment of the plume dispersion due to chemical attack on April 4, 2017, in Syria

Author

Listed:
  • Kiran Bhaganagar

    (University of Texas)

  • Sudheer R. Bhimireddy

    (University of Texas)

Abstract

A numerical investigation has been performed using Weather Research and Forecasting model to determine the role of atmospheric factors that influenced the dispersion of the chemical plume released on the fateful date of April 4, 2017, at 6.30 a.m. in the town of Khan Sheikhoun in northwestern region of Syria. The plume has been approximated as an inert tracer and the effect of meteorological and topographical conditions on the plume dispersion has been studied. The results have shown that the released plume formed a thin layer up to 100 m above the surface known a “fumigation plume”. The plume spreads radially, undiluted to distance of 7.9 and 19.3 km at 1 and 2 h, respectively, after the initial release. Due to change to convective atmospheric stability conditions, the turbulence convective eddies dilutes the plume. The atmospheric stability conditions in the next 2 h were critical in dispersing the plume. The study motivates the importance of estimating short-term transport of the plume in health-, safety- and evacuation-management.

Suggested Citation

  • Kiran Bhaganagar & Sudheer R. Bhimireddy, 2017. "Assessment of the plume dispersion due to chemical attack on April 4, 2017, in Syria," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 88(3), pages 1893-1901, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:88:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11069-017-2936-x
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-017-2936-x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-017-2936-x
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11069-017-2936-x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:88:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11069-017-2936-x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.