U.S. EPA AERMOD Model Being Promulgated!

On October 21, 2005, the U.S. EPA Administrator signed revisions to the Guideline on Air Quality Models - Appendix W of 40 CFR Part 51.  These revisions include the recommendation for the replacement of the Industrial Source Complex (ISC3) model with the U.S. EPA AERMOD model.

30 days after the publication of these guideline revisions in the Federal Register, the AERMOD model with the PRIME building downwash algorithm, will become the recommended model for assessing criteria pollutants under the Clean Air Act. During the transition period of one year following the publication in the Federal Registry, state and local regulators should be consulted about their requirements.

It is time to start learning about this new air dispersion model - check the AERMOD Technical Guide at https://www.weblakes.com/aermodvol1/tableofcontents.html.

See our course schedule below for a list of AERMOD training courses being offered in 2005 and 2006 and register now!

Lakes Environmental Attends Information Sessions for Ontario’s New Air Pollution Regulation (419/05)

Dr. Jesse Thé, president of Lakes Environmental Software, was invited by the Ontario Ministry of the Environment (MOE) and the Air and Waste Management Association - Ontario Section (AWMA-OS) to participate in three Air Pollution Regulation 419/05 information sessions.  The focus of these sessions is on key issues regarding the newly promulgated regulation with particular attention paid to the new Air Dispersion Modelling Guideline for Ontario and the procedures for preparing an Emission Summary and Dispersion Modelling Procedure Document.  The final session for 2005 will take place on Thursday, November 10th in Sudbury, Ontario.  For more information regarding this session, and upcoming sessions in 2006, please email 419/05@ortech.ca or phone (905) 822-4120 ext.266. 

Dr. Jesse Thé is one of the authors of the "Proposed Guidance for Air Dispersion Modelling", developed under contract with MOE, to support the Ontario's New Air Quality Regulation 419/05.
https://www.ene.gov.on.ca/envision/techdocs/3614e02.htm

Lakes Environmental Presents Findings at the 10th International Conference on Harmonisation

Dr. Yau, of Lakes Environmental, recently spoke at the 10th International Conference on Harmonisation within Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling for Regulatory Purposes held in Crete, Greece, October 17-20, 2005.  The paper presented by Dr. Yau, Comparison of AERMOD to EIAA with Respect to the Latest Tracer Field Data, was researched and written in collaboration with the Chinese Appraisal Center for Environment and Engineering, State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA).  The presentation focused on the results of a study regarding SEPA’s proposed replacement of China’s current regulatory model (EIAA) with the U.S. EPA AERMOD model.  The study evaluated the suitability of using the AERMOD model in China and provides a theoretical basis for supporting the replacement of EIAA with AERMOD.

https://www.weblakes.com/ISCAERMOD/harmo10_yang_yau.pdf.

Dr. Yau is our senior meteorologist responsible for advanced R&D in atmospheric science modeling.

CALPUFF Course for Alberta Environment

Dr. Jesse Thé, president of Lakes Environmental, has recently completed a CALPUFF training course for the Alberta Environment.  The course focused on the fundamentals of the CALPUFF model with hands-on case studies to support the theory.  To book a private course for your organization, contact us at training@weblakes.com.

We’ve set a number of training dates for 2005 and 2006, with additional courses to be announced.  Please contact us at training@weblakes.com for international or customized training needs.

AERMOD & ISCST3 Courses

CALPUFF Courses

Customized Courses

Lakes Environmental offers a variety of on-site, customized courses for all of your air dispersion modeling needs.  For information on pricing and availability, please email us at training@weblakes.com.

For more information on these courses, such as registration information and course outlines, please visit our website: https://www.weblakes.com/courses.html.

Calms Processing and Multi-Year Averaging

The U.S. EPA ISC and AERMOD models calculate period and annual averages by summing the total number of hourly concentrations in the period and dividing by the number of hours (minus calm hours).  This is referred to as calms processing.

A calm hour is defined as an hour of met data during which the average wind speed is less than 1m/s.  During these conditions the measurement precision of wind speed and wind direction is unacceptable; therefore, the calms processing routine sets concentrations to zero for calm hours, and short term averages are calculated according to the EPA’s calms policy.  For example, if five hours of data are run for a pollutant concentration, in which hour 2 is a calm hour, a simple average would result in a lower concentration due to the inclusion of the calm hour’s zero value.  However, calms processing, excludes zero concentration from the calm hour yielding a more reasonable result.

Hours	Concentration (µg/m3)
1	0.76733
2	0
3	0.70298
4	0.65836
5	0.73312
Simple Average	0.15347
Calms Processing	0.19183

For multi-year runs with the annual option, the model assumes that complete years of meteorological data are available.  Annual averages, calculated using calms processing, are then summed and divided by the number of years in the run.

We are currently accepting submissions for the Monthly Modeling Tip which appears in our newsletters.  If you have a modeling tip that may benefit a variety of people, please send it to us at support@weblakes.com.   Your name and the name of your organization will appear below the tip providing you with greater exposure.

House Moves Toward Easing Offshore Drilling Ban, Opening Alaska Refuge

A House committee on Wednesday approved a measure that would clear the way for oil and gas drilling in currently off-limits coastal waters and an Alaska wildlife refuge.
https://enn.com/today.html?id=9116

Alberta Rejects Federal Emissions Plan

Alberta has filed a formal objection to the proposed federal emissions regulations that would cap greenhouse gases at large industrial emitters.  If upheld, the complaint could undermine the federal plan to meet Canada’s Kyoto agreement targets.
https://www.globe-net.ca/news/index.cfm?type=2&newsID=1474

Honduran Project Gets First Kyoto Credits

A hydroelectric power project in Honduras received on Thursday the first carbon dioxide emission credits issued under Kyoto Protocol rules to encourage firms to invest in green schemes in developing countries.
https://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=scienceNews
&storyID=2005-10-20T153046Z_01_RID055724_RTRUKOC_0_US-KYOTO-CREDITS.xml

China to Become World Leader in Wind Power?

Wind Guangdong, a study of wind power potential in the heavily industrialised Guangdong province in southern China, finds that the region could produce as much energy from wind power as Hong Kong's total current electricity supply, by 2020.
https://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=10692&channel=0

The EU Could Move Unilaterally to Curb Airline Emissions

International airlines may no longer get a free pass for their emissions under a proposal laid out by the European Commission (EC) in September.  The EC strategy would draw the airline sector into the European Union’s (EU) greenhouse gas emissions trading system, which opened for business this year and is the centerpiece of EU efforts to meet emissions reduction targets agreed to under the Kyoto Protocol on climate change.  Environmentalists call the move an important first step.  The airline industry, however, is split over the issue, and U.S. officials question the measure’s legality.
https://pubs.acs.org/subscribe/journals/esthag-w/2005/oct/policy/kc_airline.html

Here are a few Conferences and Tradeshows coming up in the next few months: