OPS: An operational atmospheric transport model for priority substances

The OPS-model (Operational model for Priority Substances) is a flexible atmospheric transport model for the calculation of concentration and deposition of low-reactive pollutants. The averaging period can be chosen from one month up to a period of more than 10 years. The receptor points may be defined on a regular grid in a model domain ranging from the local scale (several 100 m around a source) up to the scale of the European continent (ca. 2000×2000 km) or they may be defined by exact geographical (x,y) coordinates. The latter is for example applicable when the user wishes to compare the model results with measured values from monitoring stations. The emissions can be defined as any combination of point sources and (diffuse) area sources with variable horizontal dimensions. The model uses statistical meteorological data. The minimum set of required meteorological information consists of 6-hourly data for wind speed and direction, global radiation, temperature, and precipitation amount and duration. These data are pre-processed in a separate programme to calculate the necessary statistics.