Meteorological perspectives on site selection for a rain-water composition study in the Latrobe Valley

Bureau of Meteorology data on rainfall in the Latrobe Valley, winds at Laverton, and winds at East Sale for calendar years 1983 to 1985 are used with wind data from four 110 m towers from the Latrobe Valley Air Monitoring Network to provide a basis for selecting sampling sites for a rain-water composition study in the Latrobe Valley. A strong preference for 900 hPa winds (24-hour average) from the 225° to 315° sector is found for rain days. This information, together with information on wind speed and aqueous-phase S02 oxidation rates, leads us to suggest that a network of five samplers would be desirable for study of rain-water composition in the Latrobe Valley, three located about 20 km to the east of the Loy Yang power station in an arc aimed at sampling wind directions from 225° to 315°, one located in the central valley region, and one to the west of the valley acting as an upwind control.