What question did this study set out to answer?

The aim is to develop an accessible model for simulating air pollution dispersion from industrial sources using QGIS.

February 14, 2026Applied Sciences0 citationsOpen Access

A QGIS-Based Gaussian Plume Dispersion Model for Point Sources: Development and Intercomparison of Reflective and Non-Reflective Formulations

MBMarius Daniel BontoşUniversitatea Națională de Știință și Tehnologie Politehnica București GVGeorgiana-Claudia VasiliuUniversitatea Națională de Știință și Tehnologie Politehnica București EBElena-Laura BarbuUniversitatea Națională de Știință și Tehnologie Politehnica București

Key Points

The aim is to develop an accessible model for simulating air pollution dispersion from industrial sources using QGIS.
Developed a QGIS-based model integrating emissions, meteorological conditions, and terrain data.
Simulated dispersion both with and without ground reflection effects.
Applied the model to a specific urban industrial source using CO2 as a tracer.
Compared model outputs with existing open-source Gaussian plume models.
Ground reflection increased modeled near-surface concentrations by approximately 60%.
The model provides a transparent and user-friendly framework for air quality assessments.
Analysis indicates significant differences in concentration distributions with and without reflection.

Abstract

Air pollution from industrial point sources remains a major concern in urban environments, highlighting the need for accessible tools that support both education and preliminary environmental assessment. This study presents the development and intercomparison of an open-source, QGIS-based geospatial model for simulating atmospheric pollutant dispersion from fixed point sources using the Gaussian plume formulation. The model integrates emission parameters, meteorological conditions, and terrain data within a fully spatial workflow implemented through the QGIS graphical modeler, enabling the generation of ground-level concentration fields without advanced programming expertise. Dispersion is simulated with and without inclusion of a ground reflection term, allowing comparative analysis of boundary condition effects. The model was applied to a representative urban industrial source at the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, using CO2 emissions treated as a passive tracer. Model outputs were evaluated through descriptive statistics and quantitative comparison with two established open-source Gaussian plume implementations developed in Python. Ground reflection leads to an increase of approximately 60% in modeled near-surface concentrations, particularly in the upper tail of the distribution, underscoring its importance for screening-level exposure assessment. The proposed model provides a transparent, reproducible, and user-friendly framework suitable for teaching activities, rapid screening analyses, and exploratory air quality assessments.

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