from 4 x 1073 cm for the smooth surface to 1 m for a forest.

Roughness

height is calculated from the tog-linear velocity profile and is the height
at which the extrapolated velocity profile reaches zero velocity.
Ranges of measured average resuspension rates are correlated as a function

of measured or estimated surface roughness heights in Figure 12 (Sehmel,

1975b).

Resuspension rates range seven orders of magnitude from 10-!0 to

1073 fraction resuspended/sec.

The practical significance of these numbers

10"

The initia] resuspension rate correlation indicates that resuspension rates
decrease as surface roughness increases, at least for the three smaller

we

roughness heights.

T

I

T

1

T

can be made apparent by noting that a year is 3.2 x 10? sec.

NOTE: 1 YEAR = 3.2 x 107 sec

However, measured resuspension rates for DDT sprayed on

4

a forest are two orders of magnitude greater than rates for the desert soil

(Orgill et_al., 1976).
This is an unexpected and unexplained increase in
resuspension rates.
A possible explanation of the increase might be increased

-4

10

resuspension caused by tree movement in the wind. Also, various other grass
differences in controlling variables and experimental factors may have influ-

enced results.

Since the data are so extremely limited, this apparent corre-

lation should be used with extreme caution until] correlations are developed

based upon several physical parameters instead of only zg.

Nevertheless,

this correlation does give some justification for estimating resuspension
rates until better correlations are developed.

¢

-

3 io?

éSo
-

y—

= 10

One resuspension modeling concept is that deposited pollutant particles lose

Got

tictes when resuspended (Sehmel, 1975a). If the physics of soil resuspension were understood more adequately, it might be anticipated that the soil
particle resuspersiton models could be used as a Simple basis for developing
predictive contaminant particle resuspension models.
Consequently, soil
resuspension was investigated by experimentally determining rates at which

airborne dust concentrations in the respirable size range increased with
increasing wind speed. Experiments were conducted as a function of wind
speed on the Hanford reservation at three sites.

Increases in airborne particle number distributions as a function of wind

speed are shown in Figure 13 for particle diameters of 1.1, 1.9, and 3.6 um.

In each case, data points are plotted at the lower value of each experimental wind speed increment. Wind speed increments are indicated by the
horizontal lines extending to the right from each data point.
Average airborne particle number concentrations increased rapidly and

reproducibly with increases in wind speed. In the left portion of the
figure, concentrations increased as the 2.9 power of wind speed for wind
speeds between 4,5 and 9.4 m/sec during sampling periods beginning on
March 3 and May 6. Concentrations in the summer months from May 6 to
September 18, 1974 were greater than for the spring months from March 4 toApril 25, 1974, but were less than for late winter months from January 16
to February 8, 1974,

2.9m 1D ALUMINUM TUBE
‘\

\\

6 |

AIRBORNE SOIL CONCENTRATIONS AS A FUNCTION OF WIND SPEED
their identity as discrete particles, becoming attached to host soil par-

10 pm uranine FROM

NX

\. \

\
\.

5

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310°

J
G

-

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\

s.
e 10
<

"

oor

0 103

\

\\

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Mo TRACER FROM ———+$

30
-11

DOT FROM FOREST-——>
,/

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Zn$ FROM ‘

ASPHALT SURFACE

/

/

rd

;

/

/

DESERT SOIL

i

102

l

|

1

ig!

l

10

L

10

ROUGHNESS HEIGHT, Zo, cm

FIGURE 12.

Initial Correlation of Wind Caused Resuspension Rates

202
203

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