A stochastic model for transport of particulate matter in air: an asymptotic analysis (Q1973306)

A model for a system of particles which migrate, branch and change size is presented. The model is quite general and may be adapted for the transport of any primary pollutant such as carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and particulate matter. The transformations of particles may be of the type: water absorption and growth, corresponding to change of size during the particle lifetime and motion; removal by dry or wet deposition to the earth's surface, corresponding to temporal death; permanent removal or death occurs by several causes, including the entrance of the particles into the breathing system and their consequent deposition into the lungs, or if they do not resuspend after ground deposition. The law of large numbers and high-density fluctuation limits for the process recording the position and sizes of the particles through time are presented. These results allow to compute approximate probabilities for the temporal and spatial concentrations of particles of given sizes. Some results of simulations are presented in order to give a qualitative idea of the behaviour of the model.