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Atmorphrrrc Encrronmmr, Vol. 15, pp. 537-540.
0 Pergamon Press Ltd. 1981. Printed in Great B&III.

POLAR ISOPLETH DIAGRAMS: A NEW WAY OF

PRESENTING WIND AND POLLUTION DATA
J. S. BOWER* and E. J. SULLIVAN
Warren Spring Laboratory, PO Box 20, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage, SGl 2BX, Herts, U.K.

(Received in final form 7 August 1980)

Abstract-A recently developed data presentation technique, the polar isopleth diagram, has been
extended in scope. The existing technique enabled the distribution of wind by direction and speed to be
analysed, but it is now possible to examine the effects of these variables, acting simultaneously, on ambient
air pollutant concentrations. A number of specific examples of the diagram are discussed.

1. INTRODUCTION Examples of wind and pollution isopleths are given

Many analysis and data presentation techniques have
been used in the past to demonstrate the relationships
between wind speed, wind direction and air pollution
concentrations at a given monitoring site. These have
included wind roses, pollution roses, wind speed band
analyses and other techniques. Now, however, follow-
ing the work of Seppalii (1977), a more comprehensive
method, the polar isopleth diagram, has been de-
veloped by the Warren Spring Laboratory. This tech-
nique has been used initially in a study of smoke and
sulphur dioxide pollution in the Eastern Strathclyde
Region of Scotland, an area which includes the city of
Glasgow.
2. DISCUSSION OF TECHNIQUE
Computer software has been specially developed to
facilitate the production of polar isopleth diagrams.
However, this note does not deal with the details of the
software but rather with presentation and interpre-
tation of the diagrams. These diagrams enable the
distribution of wind by direction and speed to be
analysed, and also make it possible to examine the
effects of these parameters, acting simultaneously, on
ambient concentrations of pollution.
The software developed will provide a wide range of
diagram types, but only two forms, the wind isopleth
and pollution isopleth, are discussed here. The wind
isopleth has been dealt with at some length by SeppUB
(1977), but to the knowledge of the authors, pollution
isopleths are presented here for the first time. A
number of different types of isopleth diagram are
currently being investigated at Warren Spring, includ-
ing varieties where a stability index is one of the plot
variables.
* Present address: Environmental Protection Unit, Hong
Kong Government Secretariat, Hong Kong.
in Figs l-3. Wind isopleth diagrams (Fig. 1) may be
regarded as a generalisation of the familiar wind rose,
but including additional information on the wind
speed distribution of all wind direction sectors. Pol-
lution isopleth diagrams (Figs. 2 and 3) are conceptu-
ally very similar, being generalisations of the familiar
pollution rose, but again providing additional
information. A major advantage of isopleth diagrams
is that they explicitly show how the plotted parameter
varies with wind speed for any wind direction, whereas
traditional rose diagrams simply give the average of
the plotted parameter for a limited number of wind
sectors.
Both types of isopleth diagram describedhere use an
identical polar coordinate system, the r (radial) axis
of which represents wind speed, and the f3(angular)
axis representing wind direction. The radial ordinate
in Figs l-3 ranges from 0.2m s- for the innermost
central circle to 20 m s- full scale, whilst the angular
ordinate corresponds to the normal 360 range where
0 is equivalent to north. All winds of less than
0.2 m s- 1are included in a separate category, which is
plotted at the very centre of each diagram. It should be
noted, however, that this low speed category has been
extended to cover speeds up to 1 m s-l for future
diagrams.
The total data field plotted in both types of diagram
consists of some 1500 cells each of which corresponds
to an r, 8 coordinate representing a specific wind speed
and direction combination. For wind isopleths, such
as Fig. 1, the frequency of wind occurrence in each cell
is plotted, and areas of equal frequency are delineated
by contour lines. The frequency of wind occurring in
each cell equals the total number of wind occurrences
(by hour) expressed as a fraction of the total period of
time covered by the diagram. The resultant diagram
gives in a concise graphical format an impression of
the distribution of wind occurrence by both speed and
direction simultaneously. For pollution isopleths,
 J. S. BOWER and E. J. SULLIVAN

YEAR

w
KEY

1- 5Vo

0.5 -1%

0 1 -0.5%

0~02-0~1%

MOSTLY < 0.0; !%

Fig. 1. Polar isopleth diagram of wind frequency in Glasgow for 197718. (Calm category frequency is in centre of
diagram.)

60 -

60&g rtr3

MOST1

Ftg. 2. Polar isopleth diagram of ambient sulphur dioxide concentrations in central Glasgow during the winter
months of 1977:8. (Mean concentration for calm category winds is in centre of diagram.)
 Polar isopleth diagrams
KEY
> 14Opg m-3
100 - 14099 m-3
60 - lOO_q m-3
20 - 60119 m-3
MOSTLY < 20,ug m-
ii
Fig. 3. Polar isopleth diagram of ambient sulphur dioxide concentrations in central Glasgow during the summer
months of 1978. (Mean concentration for calm category winds is in centre of diagram.)
such as Figs 2 and 3, the dependent plotted variable is
pollutant concentration and not wind frequency as
previously. The contours plotted thus enclose wind
field coordinates sharing common ambient pollutant
concentrations. Note that although arithmetic mean
concentrations are plotted in Figs 2 and 3, the facility
exists in the computer software for presenting iso-
pleths of median and maximum levels, as well as any
specified concentration percentile.
The isopleth diagrams presented here may be
thought of as the twodimensional polar projection of
a three-dimensional function plotted in a cylidrical
coordinate system, the r and 0 axes of which represent
wind speed and direction. The orthogonal Z axis,
which may be thought of as projecting through the
paper, represents wind frequency in wind isopleths
and pollution concentration in the case of pollution
isopleths.
3. DISCUSSION OF SPECIFIC CASES
The structure and uses of both types of isopleth
diagram may be clarified by reference to the example
diagrams presented here. Figure 1 shows the wind
isopleth compiled from a full years wind data from a
site some 6 km to the east of Glasgow city centre.
Areas of increasing wind occurrence in the diagram
are shaded successively darker, so it is readily apparent
that the highest wind frequencies occur for directions
539
20
SUMMER
I
of 90-120 and 240-270. This east-west directional
bias is very much in accord with the typical wind
direction pattern for the U.K., accentuated by the
known wind-channeling effects in the Glasgow Basin
area (Halstead, 1973; Plant, 1973). For the 90-120
sector, winds are most frequent in the O-2.5ms-
speed band, whilst 2.55ms- speeds are more
common in the westerly direction.
The figure at the very centre of Fig. 1 shows l-2 /,
of winds falling into the calm category of
speeds<0.2ms-i.
It can be noted that angular resolution of the
diagrams is in principle high even for the lowest
speeds, since the 0.2 m s- 1winds are not plotted at the
centre but on the innermost circle. However, it should
be borne in mind that, although the intrinsic plot
resolution may be high at these low wind speeds, the
measured data may be somewhat uncertain. In fact,
the diagrams are capable of better resolution than the
currently-used wind measuring instrumentation
would strictly warrant, though it was felt advisable to
retain this high resolution for maximum flexibility in
the utilisation of the isopleth technique.
Ambient concentrations of sulphur dioxide were
measured using a Meloy Total Sulphur Monitor
(flame photometric principle) at a site situated in the
commercial city centre of Glasgow during 1977 and
1978. Figure 2 shows the sulphur dioxide isopleth
diagram for the winter (October-March) of 1977/
1978, whilst Fig. 3 shows the corresponding diagram for
540 S. BOWER and E. J. SULLIVAN
.I.

the summer months of 1978 (April-Sept). The figure at being much reduced in calm conditions. Such an
the centre of each pollution isopleth diagram shows increase of pollutant concentrations with wind speed,
the mean pollution level corresponding to the calm instead of the more common decline, is generally
category winds. associated with emissions from medium or high
Pollution isopleth dizgrams such as these do not in chimneys, which may be some distance from the
isolation give information on the significance of the measurement site. These observations are again con-
concentrations shown, which depends not only on the sistent with the known emission characteristics of the
absolute pollution levels, but also on the frequency Glasgow and surrounding areas.
with which these levels occur. In practice, pollution The isopleth diagram examples discussed here.
isopleths should therefore always be interpreted in together with many others. are analysed in con-
conjuction with corresponding wind frequency iso- siderably greater detail in forthcoming reports from
pleths in order that some significance can be attached this laboratory.
to the concentrations exhibited.
A strong easterly bias in sulphur dioxide concen-
trations is observed during the winter (Fig. 2) with 4. SUMMARY

relatively high concentrations of pollution occurring

It has been demonstrated that polar isopleth dia-
for a broad range of speeds up to about 7.5 m s- i. This
grams of wind and ambient pollution data are of
is probably due to generally poor dispersion con-
considerable use in the presentation and interpretation
ditions which tend to be associated with easterly winds
of meteorological and pollution data. The examples
in the LJ.K. However, the distribution of sulphur
discussed in this note are intended to give an idea of the
dioxide is fairly uniform at low wind speeds, consistent
potential scope of this analysis technique employed in
with the uniform distribution of local space-heating
a current air pollution study in Scotland.
sources and with the sites central location. This is due
to the fact that emissions from the relatively low
chimneys of space-heating installations tend to con- Acknowkdgrment -The development and applicatton of
tribute most to ground level concentrations during low the polar isopleth technique described in this note was part of
wind speed conditions. an air pollution monitoring and modelling study in Central
The summer isopleth diagram (Fig. 3) has, on the Scotland sponsored by the Scottish Development
Department.
other hand, a radically different morphology.
Ambient pollutant concentrations are considerably
lower than the corresponding winter levels, partly REFERENCES
reflecting the much reduced contribution from space-
heating emissions, and the easterly bias observed in Halstead C. A. (1973) Au pollution and relief in the Glasgow
winter for the highest pollution concentrations is not area. Geofbr&n 14, 67-72.
Plant J. A. (1973) The climate of Glaseow. Climatolonical
as marked. Furthermore, higher concentrations in the Memorandum No. 60 (Meteorologigl Office, U.K.).-
north-east and south-east sectors occur when wind Seppalii M. (1977) Frequency isopleth diagram to illustrate
speeds are in the range of ?.S-7.5ms-. with values wind observations. Weather 32, 171-175.