The Horsham Plume Plotter shows a prediction of the current amount of air pollution (at ground level) caused by emissions from the proposed incinerator at North Horsham.
Plume Plotter predicts this fallout using AERMOD, which is one of the most widely used modelling systems for air pollution. It uses the latest local weather conditions and upper air data, which are obtained in real time. Since the incinerator does not yet exist, Plume Plotter does not use real-time information about its emissions. Instead, it assumes that the incinerator is operating continuously (8760 hours per year) and emitting pollutants at a constant rate. The emission rates assumed are the long-term planned emission rates that were specified by the incinerator developers in their planning application; the other parameters (e.g. emission velocity and temperature) used are also taken directly from the planning application.
Plume Plotter’s model takes account of the real terrain in the vicinity of the incinerator and the shape of the incinerator buildings.
Disclaimer: While we believe that our predictions are as accurate as possible using the resources and information available to us, we make no claims or guarantees made about the correctness of the information presented on this website.
Plume Plotter has been running since 2015 as a free service to local residents and groups interested in the fallout from their local incinerator or other source of air pollution.