Meteorological summaries pertinent to atmospheric transport and dispersion over southern California

The rapid growth of population and industry in southern California is causing an ever increasing demand for electrical power and eventually expanded use of nuclear energy. For this reason, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission requested that the U.S. Weather Bureau compile and evaluate the available meteorological data pertinent to atmospheric transport and dispersion over southern California. The summaries in this report give an indication of the manner in which effluents move from one place to another and of the capacity of the atmosphere to reduce the concentration of effluents emitted into it. However, these summaries are not all-inclusive for any area in southern California. The generalized pictures of the movement of air and the dilution capacity of the atmosphere presented herein are intended to provide data that may be useful for preliminary considerations in selecting nuclear reactor sites.