Regional dispersion characteristics of dust from large-scale open-pit coal mines in China driven by WRF-AERMOD and...

Dust generated from large-scale open-pit coal mining can be transported to surrounding regions under natural airflow conditions, posing significant environmental and health risks. However, regional-scale dispersion studies are often constrained by the lack of upper-air meteorological observations in remote mining areas. To address this limitation, this study develops a multi-scale coupled modeling framework by integrating the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with the AERMOD and CALPUFF dispersion models. The WRF model is employed to generate high-resolution upper-air meteorological data required to drive both dispersion models. Taking the Haerwusu Open-pit Coal Mine (HOCM) as a case study, the dispersion and deposition of total suspended particulates (TSP) in 2021 are simulated under four scenarios (AERMOD/CALPUFF with and without dry deposition) and evaluated against field observations. The results demonstrate that WRF-derived meteorological data can effectively support both AERMOD and CALPUFF simulations, with all scenarios showing satisfactory performance. Among them, the WRF-AERMOD model with dry deposition exhibits the best agreement with observations (R = 0.78, IOA = 0.76). The simulated dust pollution is mainly confined within the mining area and its eastern and southern surroundings, while the impact on Xuejiawan Town to the northwest is minimal. Dust deposition is primarily distributed within approximately 5 km of the mine boundary. Overall, simulated TSP concentrations comply with the Class II limits of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of China (GB3095-2012). This study demonstrates the effectiveness of integrating mesoscale meteorological modeling with dispersion models for simulating dust transport in data-scarce mining regions, and provides a practical framework for regional dust pollution assessment and control in large-scale open-pit coal mines.