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EPA's Wind Tunnel: Modeling Urban Wind Flow & Dispersion

About this Webinar

Originally presented on June 12, 2024

Watch the webinar.

The release of a harmful airborne material in an urban environment raises concerns of downwind impacts. The various shapes and sizes of buildings and their orientation with respect to streets create complex air movement, which affects the dispersion of any substance released within the wind flow. Field, laboratory, and modeling experiments that simulate these types of releases are critical in improving current fast-response models, which are useful tools for effective emergency planning or recovery scenarios.

For nearly 50 years, EPA researchers have been advancing flow and dispersion research within EPA's Fluid Modeling Facility Meteorological Wind Tunnel lab. This webinar will provide an overview of the laboratory's capabilities, a case study from the September 11th attacks, and recent research efforts ranging from models of single buildings to arrays of multiple realistic structures. The presentation will illustrate how data gathered from the wind tunnel can be used to improve models, which can assist decision makers, particularly within complex urban settings.

About the Presenter

Michael Pirhalla is a Physical Scientist in EPA's Office of Research and Development Center for Environmental Solutions and Emergency Response. He started his career as a Pathways Intern while working on his dissertation in flow and dispersion within EPA's Fluid Modeling Facility Meteorological Wind Tunnel laboratory. After graduation, Michael has continued dispersion research in urban and built environments using data gathered from the wind tunnel and through Large Eddy Simulations to improve formulations in dispersion models. He also performs research in environmental sampling to improve analysis methods for surfaces potentially contaminated with biological agents. Michael has a B.S. in Meteorology from Plymouth State University, and M.S. in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, and a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences from North Carolina State University.

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Last updated on May 28, 2025
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