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Lakes Environmental Software
Volume 9 - Issue 8 Monthly Newsletter - August 2008
 
News & Events
Distributor News
Upcoming Courses
Monthly Modeling Tip
This Month’s Articles
Conferences & Trade Shows
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News & Events

New Product Coming Soon!

Lakes Environmental Software and its German partner ArguSoft are proud to announce the upcoming release of ARTM ViewTM. Based on the successful AUSTAL ViewTM, this new user interface controls the Atmospheric Radionuclid Transport Model (ARTM). ARTM is the new standard for calculating the dispersion of airborne radioactive materials according to the German Nuclear Act. The model follows the Lagrangian approach of AUSTAL2000.

ARTM View has been adapted and improved from the current version of AUSTAL View 5.0. For details of the features see: www.argusoft.de/artmview.htm. A description of ARTM is available (in English) from BfS (German Federal Agency for Radiation Protection). Look for a release date to be announced by the end of September! For more information about ARTM View, please contact ArguSoft in Germany (GMT+1) by email, at info@argusoft.de, or by phone, at +49.2232.9289.448.

Only Four Spaces Left in September AERMOD Course in Toronto. Register Now!

The 2-day AERMOD course in Toronto on September 25-26, 2008 is rapidly running out of space. Due to the demand that quickly filled an unprecedented three courses this spring, we expect this course to sell out. Act quickly to attend; please contact us at training@weblakes.com or check the Upcoming Courses section on our website to register.

Popular AERMOD and CALPUFF Courses Return to Brazil

Once again, we are pleased to be hosted by SECA- Consultoria em Clima e Meio Ambiente Ltda for a week of AERMOD and CALPUFF training in São Paulo, Brazil. The 2-day AERMOD course will be held on November 3-4, and the 3-day CALPUFF course on November 5-7, 2008. The course presentation will be in Portuguese; course notes and presentation slides will be in English. If you wish to attend, please contact Mr. Silvio de Oliveira of SECA- Consultoria em Clima e Meio Ambiente Ltda at silvoliv@uol.com.br.

Lakes Environmental Closed For the Labour Day Holiday

Lakes Environmental will be closed on Monday, September 1st to observe the Labour Day Holiday. If you have any pressing needs during that time, please email us at support@weblakes.com and we will contact you September 2nd, 2008 when we re-open.

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Upcoming Courses

We’ve set a number of training dates for 2008. Please be sure to register in advance as spots are limited.

AERMOD Courses

Sept. 25-26, 2008 Toronto, ON, Canada
Oct. 23-24, 2008 Boston, MA, USA
Nov. 3-4, 2008 São Paulo, Brazil
Outline/Registration coming soon
Nov. 20-21, 2008 San Diego, CA, USA

CALPUFF Courses

Nov. 5-7, 2008 São Paulo, Brazil
Outline/Registration coming soon
For more information on the above courses, including registration information, location, and course outlines, please visit our web site: www.weblakes.com/course.
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Monthly Modeling Tip

Global Use of AERMET: Upper Air Data

The AERMOD Modeling system was originally designed by the US EPA with US modeling in mind; while AERMOD can successfully be used anywhere in the world, some considerations must be made.

One of the main considerations is the use of upper air data in AERMET. If upper air data is not available, Aermet View’s Upper Air Estimator may be used. If upper air data is used, care must be taken to format the time stamps so that they will be accepted by AERMET – this is the topic of this modeling tip.

Sounding Time

Morning upper air soundings are typically taken at 1200 GMT in the US, and AERMET is designed to expect the morning soundings at or near this time. For many locations outside of the US, 1200 GMT does not correspond to morning time and the morning sounding is taken at some other time. Using such upper air data in Aermet may cause an unsuccessful run.

If morning soundings are recorded at a time other than 1200 GMT, it is recommended that they be artificially converted to 1200 GMT in the upper air file.

Adjustment to Local Time

The Adjustment to Local Time (also know as tadjust under the LOCATION keyword) is a parameter provided to AERMET which is subtracted from the GMT times in the upper air file in order to convert them into local standard times. If the upper air sounding times have been artificially changed to 1200 GMT, then the Adjustment to Local Time must also be changed so that it will convert 1200 GMT into the actual morning sounding in local standard time.

Example

This procedure is best illustrated by an example; let’s consider a project located in Athens:

Local time zone

GMT+2

Morning sounding time (local)

0500 LST

Morning sounding time (GMT)

0300 GMT

In this case, the times in the upper air file must be moved forward by 9 hours to 1200 GMT.

The Adjustment to Local Time would have been given in as “-2hr (Athens)”, but since we have shifted the upper air times by 9 hours, we must also shift the Adjustment to Local Time by 9 hours. The Adjustment to Local Time should be set to “7hr (Mountain)”.

We can see that if we subtract the adjustment from the upper air sounding time (in GMT) we get the actual sounding time (is LST):

1200 GMT – 0700 = 0500 LST

With these settings, the project should run correctly.

Acknowledgement

We would like to thank Chaim Luria for his valuable contribution to this modeling tip.

Remember: We are currently accepting submissions for the Monthly Modeling Tip that 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.
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This Month's Articles

Windmills Split Town And Families
Aug 16, 2008 - "Listen," John Yancey says, leaning against his truck in a field outside his home. The rhythmic whoosh, whoosh, whoosh of wind turbines echoes through the air. Sleek and white, their long propeller blades rotate in formation, like some otherworldly dance of spindly-armed aliens swaying across the land.
Read Article
Antarctic Climate: Short-term Spikes, Long-term Warming Linked To Tropical Pacific
Aug 15, 2008 - Dramatic year-to-year temperature swings and a century-long warming trend across West Antarctica are linked to conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean, according to a new analysis of ice cores conducted by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and the University of Washington (UW).

The findings show the connection of the world's coldest continent to global warming, as well as to periodic events such as El Niño.
Read Article
African Firms Start To Take Action On Climate Change
Aug 15, 2008 - With global warming expected to hit Africa hard, some companies in the "forgotten continent" are taking action themselves to fight climate change. "The environment is not being taken very seriously in most of the emerging markets, because we haven't started feeling the pressure yet," Adan Mohamed, chief executive of Barclays Bank Kenya, told Reuters. "But it has got to be addressed and it is up to us corporates to lead that."
Read Article
CMA Sees Sharp Rise In Air Pollution Deaths
Aug 13, 2008 – OTTAWA–The Canadian Medical Association is warning that the number of deaths related to air pollution is set to soar, with a cumulative death toll of 800,000 Canadians by 2031. The vast majority of those deaths will be among people aged 65 years and older because they are more vulnerable to heart problems, the group said in a study released today. Association president Brian Day says the number of people in that vulnerable zone will grow as the population ages.
Read Article
Exports Account For One-third Of China’s Emissions
Aug 12, 2008 - As Chinese manufacturers feed a growing global appetite for cheap goods, these exports account for a rising share of the country's greenhouse gas emissions, a new study reveals. Exports are now responsible for one-third of China's emissions, according to a study that will appear in the journal Energy Policy. The researchers describe their analysis as the most systematic study of the subject to date.
Read Article
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Conferences & Trade Shows

Here are a few conferences and trade shows coming up in the next few months:
Aug. 25-26, 2008 Power Plant Air Pollutant Control MEGA Symposium
more info
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Sep. 7-10, 2008 2008 Global Waste Management Symposium
more info
Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA
Sep. 16-18, 2008 The Recycling & Waste Management Exhibition (RWM)
more info
Birmingham, United Kingdom
Oct. 7-9, 2008 Eco-Tech Scandinavia
more info
Göteborg, Sweden
Oct. 12-16, 2008 2008 Joint Conference: International Society for Exposure Analysis (ISEA)
more info
Pasadena, California, USA
Oct. 22-24, 2008 Canadian Brownfields 2008
more info
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Oct. 28-30, 2008 ChemEng08
more info
Birmingham, UK
Dec. 2-5, 2008 Pollutec 2008
more info
Lyon, France
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About This Newsletter

This newsletter contains information gleaned from various sources on the web, with complete links to the sources cited. Organizations cited are in no way affiliated with Lakes Environmental Software.

Lakes Environmental Software is a leading environmental IT company that offers a complete line of air dispersion modeling, risk assessment, emissions inventory, and emergency release software as well as training and custom software services. With satisfied users located around the globe, Lakes Environmental Software will continue to revolutionize the environmental software field.

For more information please visit our web site at: www.weblakes.com.  You may also contact us by phone at (519) 746-5995 or by fax at (519) 746-0793.

All comments and suggestions are welcome.  You can e-mail us at: support@weblakes.com
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