13^th Conference on Air Quality Models announced

Posted by dshnayder on Monday, March 20th, 2023 in Newsletters

What’s Happening Now

EPA News

Upcoming 2023 RSL workshop – EPA has announced that its 2023 Regional, State, and Local Dispersion Modelers’ Workshop will be held June 28‑29, 2023 at the Region 7 offices in Lenexa, KS. For more information, check out SCRAM. Unfortunately, there will not be a public day/session this year because…

13^th Conference on Air Quality Models – EPA’s triennial Conference on Air Quality Models will be held November 14‑15, 2023. This WILL be a public conference and EPA will be soliciting comments on proposed changes to modeling guidance and tools. Although not certain, it will probably be held at EPA offices in Research Triangle Park, NC. Keep watching here and on SCRAM for details as they emerge.

Conferences and Workshops

CAPCA Spring 2023 Conference – The 2023 Spring Meeting/Conference of the Carolinas Air Pollution Control Association (CAPCA) will be held April 12‑14, 2023 at the Omni Grove Park in Asheville, NC. For more information on registration, being an exhibitor, etc. go to https://www.capca-carolinas.org/2023-spring.

TCEQ 2023 Environmental Trade Fair – The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has announced that the 2023 edition of its Environmental Trade Fair will be held May 16‑17, 2023 at the Austin (TX) Convention Center. Click here for updates and more information. Providence will be there at booth #320, so come on by and say “Howdy!”

AWMA 2023 Annual Conference and Exhibition – Last but not least, Air & Waste Management Association’s (AWMA) Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE) is coming up June 5‑8, 2023 in Orlando, FL. This year’s theme is “Smart Growth: Balancing Development, Restoration, and Resiliency”. For more information, check out https://www.awma.org/ace2023. We hope to see you there!

If your company, organization, agency, state, etc. has an upcoming modeling or air quality-related event (virtual or otherwise) and you’d like it publicized in Providence/Oris Notes, please send that information to us at info@providenceoris.com, and we’ll be happy to include it.

Simply the best!

BEEST Suite

BEEST 12.09 is now out and includes the following:

Incorporates AERMOD 22112 executable
AerMet GUI has been updated to run AERMET 22112

We presented a webinar on the new features in this version of BEEST on August 19, 2022. If you missed it, you can watch the recording here.

BEEST 12.10 will be out in the next month or so and will include support for new AERMOD 22112 alpha keywords SWPOINT, RLINEXT, and PLATFORM. The AerMinute GUI will include download access to the new 1-minute ASOS data (as was discussed in October 2022 Providence/Oris Notes).

As always, users in maintenance can download the most recent version of BEEST from Support → Software Updates.

Go BEEST Mode face masks are here! These stylish and functional masks will be the perfect complement to your Go BEEST Mode t‑shirt. These are washable/reusable and are a one size fits all. So get yours today by sending your request to info@providenceoris.com.

And of course, we still have plenty of Go BEEST Mode t‑shirts, too! You can also request one of those by emailing us at info@providenceoris.com.

AerScreen for Windows

AerScreen for Windows 4.03 is now out. This update has the following enhancements:

Runs AERMOD 22112
Includes the latest version of Terrain Files Converter

Users in maintenance can download the most recent version of AerScreen for Windows from Support → Software Updates.

AERMOD Wizard

AERMOD Wizard 1.08 is now out. This update has the following enhancements:

Download EPA monitoring data published in June 2022
Download raw meteorological data for Alaska and Hawaii
Export NEI sources, meteorological stations and monitors to Google Earth
New label display option for NEI sources
AerMet GUI has been updated to run AERMET 22112

We presented a webinar on the new features in this version of AERMOD Wizard on October 17, 2022. If you missed it, you can watch the recording here.

Users in maintenance can download the most recent version of AERMOD Wizard from Support → Software Updates.

Don’t forget – our new FREE KMZ file for monitoring stations and 2019-2021 pollutant design values is still available at https://www.providenceoris.com/epa-aqs-monitors-2019-2021-2/.

If you have suggestions for enhancements to any of our modeling software products, please let us know and we’ll do our best to incorporate them into the software.

Modeling Tip of the Month

We do quite a bit of meteorological data processing for AERMOD and wanted to share an interesting tidbit of information related to that. If you process raw meteorological data through AERMET, you know that it can process multiple formats of raw data, including CD-144, SAMSON, HUSWO, and Integrated Surface Hourly Data (ISHD). ISHD is the most recently created format and began in 1995. Unlike predecessor formats, ISHD data are time stamped in Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). This means that there is a difference between the ISHD data time stamp and local standard time. For example, ISHD data for a station located in the US Eastern time zone are 5 hours behind the GMT time stamp. This time offset requires you to not only account for this difference (called Time Adjust in our AerMet GUI) but to also append the first day of the next year’s raw ISHD data to your raw surface data file. This is because AERMET reads the records based on the offset; if you don’t include January 1 of the next year, your last 5, 6, 7, or 8 hours of processed data (based on Eastern, Central, Mountain, or Pacific Standard Time) will show as missing hours.

Bonus tip: for meteorological data processing, everything is based on local standard time. Daylight saving time is never used or accounted for.

Modeling skills ready for an upgrade? We can help!

We want to note that many folks use our classes as credit toward professional engineer continuing education requirements. Check with your state’s licensing board or the National Society of Professional Engineers (see here or here) for more information on what is required.

Essential Air Permitting

It’s back! Our latest offering focuses on everything you need to know about air permitting. Everything from ambient air quality standards to applicable rules (such as NSPS and NESHAP) to major source applicability are covered. This class will be May 8, 2023 and will be online.

To register for Essential Air Permitting, click here.

AERMOD Modeling for Permits

Our next AERMOD Modeling for Permits class will be May 9-10, 2023 and will be online. If you want to get started in modeling, then this class is for you!

To register for AERMOD Modeling for Permits, click here.

Advanced AERMOD

Our next Advanced AERMOD class will be May 11-12, 2023 and will also be online.

Advanced AERMOD covers topics that are near and dear to modelers, such as:

NAAQS modeling for 1-hour NO₂, 1-hour SO₂ and 24-hour PM_2.5 (including MaxDCont Viewer)
Culpability determination
Background concentrations
Emission scalars and hourly emission rate files
Changes in terrain data processing
Changes related to the new Appendix W (Guideline on Air Quality Models)
MAXIFILE and ARRAY2 processing
AERMOD Wizard and its uses

To register for Advanced AERMOD, click here.

Just as a reminder, if you register more than 30 days before your AERMOD class(es), you will receive a $100 discount on the course fee (per class, per registrant).

On-demand Meteorological Data Processing webinar

We are planning to launch a new training option – on-demand webinars. The first of these to be released will be “Meteorological Data Processing for AERMOD”. Look for it at www.providenceoris.com later this year.

On-demand AERSCREEN webinar

We will be releasing an on-demand training webinar for AERSCREEN. Watch this space for details!

Don’t forget, if our schedule of classes doesn’t mesh with your schedule, or if you have several people that need to be trained at once, contact us about setting up your own onsite or online class.

2023 Class Dates

The remainder of our 2023 class dates are:

Essential Air Permitting
May 8, 2023

AERMOD Modeling for Permits
May 9-10, 2023
August 22-23, 2023
December 12-13, 2023

Advanced AERMOD
May 11-12, 2023
August 24-25, 2023
December 14-15, 2023

BeestXpress

Our BeestXpress modeling server was replaced in 2022 and now runs faster than ever before!

If you’ve never used our super-fast BeestXpress before, now is the time. Feel free to use our on-demand webinar that steps you through the process of setting up an account and sending off your first BeestXpress run. You can view the webinar here. New BeestXpress users can complete their first run absolutely FREE. Instructions about receiving the free run are given at the end of the webinar. Beyond the starter run BeestXpress will give you a per-run cost estimate before you begin. If you need help budgeting for BeestXpress, contact us for additional daily rate pricing options.

BeestXpress users have some great system enhancements to work with:

The “Job Details” webpage now displays the pollutant being modeled
The “Job Details” webpage now displays run progress for MAXDCONT calculations
Modeling runs with multiple partitions now include a combined AERMOD input file (*.DTA) in the output .ZIP file
Added an option to the “Submit Job” webpage that affects modeling runs with multiple partitions: the intermediate output files created by each partition can be omitted from the output .ZIP file
The “Job Search” webpage now includes the option to search by project number
Users have access to up to 99 partitions per AERMOD run

To date, BeestXpress has processed over 500,000 AERMOD runs.

BeestXpress users can log on at www.beestxpress.com to take advantage of our AERMOD “force multiplier”. That AERMOD run that might have taken a day or two to process on your desktop computer can finish in an hour or less on BeestXpress. When time is money, BeestXpress is the best modeling return on investment there is!

Meteorological Data Processing Services

Do you need AERMOD-ready meteorological data? If so, we can help! Whether it’s running national weather service data or onsite monitor met data through the AERMET/AERMINUTE system, Providence has the background, know-how, and experience to have your data processed and ready for you ASAP. If you’d like more information, contact us at info@providenceoris.com or jamesred@providenceeng.com.

Consulting Solutions

One thing that we’re very proud of is the depth and range of our modeling experience and expertise. The kinds of air quality models we’ve used include all types, ranging from simple screening tools like SCREEN and AERSCREEN to plume models like ISC and AERMOD to CalPuff. The types of analyses include basic Significant Impact Level, NAAQS, PSD increment consumption, Class I analyses, air toxics and SIP attainment demonstrations. So, we’ve seen it all. To that end, should you or your clients need additional modeling assistance or just a second set of eyes to QA or peer review your modeling (ranging from initial protocol up to final submission), we stand ready to help. Feel free to contact us at (512) 258-8855, (828) 628-0634 or info@providenceoris.com.

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