Does anyone know (or has used) whether calpuff dispersion modeling can be used for assessment of radiological explosion? I wish to use this for verification of my results. Otherwise is there any appropriate model, other than Hotspot, which can be used for this purpose?
What type of results do you wish to verify?
Neither Calpuff nor Hotspot are capable of verification. They are useful for prediction, only.
Calpuff is used by some regulatory agencies for compliance purposes. Meeting agency requirements in no way constitutes verification.
I have used both codes for predicting explosive releases. Neither came close. A single event in the actual environment is very unpredictable.
Hotspot has a useful feature. I predicts how a given instrument would respond to a plume or deposition. This feature helps you plan a measurement strategy. Where to start and what to expect. Actual results will be different.
Proper use of either code is very useful in examining results. They are very useful aids. The models are well verified and give good results. They cannot be expected to correctly predict an actual event.
What do you mean by results? Is it your own independent calculation? I used both Calpuff and Hotspot (Radiat Environ Biophys. 2002 Jun;41:125), but these tools are useful for inter-comparison of different scenarios (i.e. different wind or atmospheric conditions for the same explosion), certainly not accurate for real experiments
Thank you Joseph L Alvarez for sharing your experience.
Thanks Marco for information. Can you please share your work (or its link) indicated in your reply.