Applicability of sniffing team observations: experience of field measurements

Sniffing measurement campaigns are a commonly used technique in Flanders to estimate the impact of an odour emission source. The Department of Organic Chemistry at Ghent University has developed its own sniffing strategy throughout the last ten years. The method uses, in essence, the technique of plotting odour perception areas and calculation of total odour emission rates based on maximum odour perception distance. 566 sniffing measurements, executed from 1990 until 1999 around industrial and agricultural odour sources were collected in a database for statistical analysis. Short-term dispersion modelling was executed using four different models, two of them based on Bultynck-Malet dispersion parameters, and two based on Pasquill dispersion parameters. Results from this analysis demonstrate some causes of variance in calculated emissions and show the fitness of each model. From the results of the sniffing teams, which are expressed as sniffing units (SU) instead of odour units (OU, OUE) to underline the difference in methodological approach, the overall odorous emission can be calculated, using short-term atmospheric dispersion models. In a second step, long-term dispersion models can be used to calculate isopercentile contour plots. According to our experience the short-term atmospheric model is a source of "noise" in the method since calculated standard deviations on calculated emissions are larger than standard deviations in the observed maximum distance for odour perception. This will be illustrated by presenting results from the evaluation of composting plants and animal farm houses.