Experimental and Real-World Analysis of the Relationship Between Wind Speed and Atmospheric Pollution Concentration

Although previously studied through field testing and the use of wind tunnels, the relationship between wind speed and atmospheric pollution concentration has not been simulated within a water flume. The aim of the research was to implement such a simulation and compare the data it provided to real world data compiled from previous records of average wind speed and AQI measurements within 3 pairs of climatically similar cities. A statistical analysis of video-data containing the water flume simulations, with obstructions and without, was conducted. The simulation consisted of a red dye plume being released into a laminar water flow at two varying rates: 0.04 m/s and 0.15 m/s. Real world data from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Boston, Tallahassee, and Orlando, was compiled from open-source data-bases and was also statistically analyzed. The findings partially confirmed the correlation between wind speed and concentration of atmospheric pollution by means of the water flume simulation. The flume’s idealistic nature though, did not transfer completely into the real world as the results of the statistical analysis of the three pairs of cities did not all display the same pattern. Tallahassee and Orlando did not show the relationship between win speed and atmospheric pollution. Even with drastically different average wind speeds, their AQI was very similar. The other two pairs did show this relationship however, and therefore the water flume cannot be completely discredited.