Atmospheric environmental impact assessment modelling in France

The most widely accepted model of atmospheric dispersion for impact assessment in France is the Gaussian model of Doury. The Centre d'Etudes Atomiques (CEA) and Electricite de France (EDF) have developed their own software systems, which include several compatible or nested meteorological, trajectory, and dispersion codes. These systems are fitted to the various atmospheric scales from regional to local, and to the problem under study for real–time monitoring of risk or damage assessment. Recently, several recognised institutions and private groups have equipped themselves with codes either derived from Doury's (1976) or EDF's models, or imported from foreign research groups. These developments essentially concern user interfaces and system implementations. Several studies have adapted computational fluid dynamics codes to compute the local wind fields in impact studies and dispersion assessment, especially at very small scales. The GdR SUB–MESO (Groupement de Recherches Atmosphere Urbaine Sub–mesoechelle...