AERMOD Classes in February

Posted by Dmitriy Shnayder on Monday, January 18th, 2021 in Newsletters

What’s Happening Now

2020 Holiday Quiz Answers

We have always enjoyed presenting the annual Holiday Quiz and hope you have enjoyed it, too. Here are the answers:

1. PSD is a common acronym in the world of air quality permitting (and modeling). What does PSD stand for?

Piled Six-feet Deep
Point Source Data
Physical Source Description
Prevention of Significant Depression
Prevention of Significant Deterioration

The correct answer is e. Prevention of Significant Deterioration (although a. might be understandable, d. not so much).

2. A new version of the AERSURFACE processor was released by EPA earlier this year. What is the version number of this new AERSURFACE?

00620
12345
02060
20060
Green

The correct answer is d. 20060.

3. A new program found within BEEST Suite, called Terrain Files Converter, allows you to convert terrain data into the proper format that can be read by AERMAP. What two terrain file formats can Terrain Files Converter read in and convert?

Bitmap and JPEG
ArcGrid and compressed GeoTIFF
ASCII and EBCDIC
Unix and Windows
Fortran and C#

The correct answer is b. ArcGrid and compressed GeoTIFF.

4. The most recent version of AERMOD (19191 – love those palindromes) includes a new source type that is also a beta option. Which source type is it?

RLINE
FLARE
AREAPOLY
LINE
POINT

The correct answer is a. RLINE.

5. AERMOD Wizard allows a modeler to do what tasks effectively, efficiently and quickly?

Download and process ambient monitoring data into AERMOD-ready background data
Calculate secondary PM2.5 and ozone impacts from MERPs (Modeled Emission Rates for Precursors)
Download raw meteorological data and then run AERMET
Vote in the Electoral College
a, b and c
None of the above

The correct answer is e. a, b and c.

Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone that entered!

EPA News

Nothing new to report on the EPA front.

Conferences and Workshops

As you might imagine, face to face meetings and conferences are going to be rare, if not non-existent, for the near future. In addition, given the somewhat fluid nature of the times we live in, we encourage you to check organizations’ websites to find out the latest on upcoming conferences and workshops (virtual or otherwise).

The 2021 Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE) slated for June 14-17, 2021 has reverted back to being a virtual conference. For more information on call for abstracts, registration, sessions, etc. go to A&WMA Annual Conference 2021.

AWMA is also sponsoring webinars and you can find out more about them at https://www.awma.org/webinars.

If your company, organization, agency, state, etc. has an upcoming modeling or air quality-related event 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!

New Price Lists

Effective August 1, 2020 the prices for BEEST Suite and AerScreen for Windows changed to:

	BEEST		AerScreen for Windows
	New	Renewal	New	Renewal
Single-user	$1,450.00	$725.00	$520.00	$260.00
Multi-user	$2,900.00	$1,450.00	$1,040.00	$520.00

There were no price changes for Professional CalPuff, AERMOD Wizard and SLAB for Windows.

BEEST Suite

BEEST 12.04 is now out and includes these updates:

Full integration of AERSURFACE 20060
Ability to split a combined five-year meteorological data set into five individual years of meteorological data
Updated Scheduler for running batch files
Ability to export MaxDCont Viewer plots to Google Earth

If you missed our webinar on BEEST 12.04 that was presented on October 20, 2020, you can still view it here.

Be on the lookout for BEEST 12.05 in February! This new version will include these features:

ADJ_U* is now set as a default in AerMet
Improved Split Met Files form
Updated user manual for Terrain Files Converter

We understand from EPA that a new version of AERMOD will not be out until the second quarter of 2021 at the earliest.

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

"Go BEEST Mode!" – NEW THIS YEAR! – Go BEEST Mode face masks! 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!

AerScreen for Windows

AerScreen for Windows 4.01 is now out. This version includes an updated Terrain Files Converter that can convert both ArcGrid and compressed GeoTIFF elevation files into AERMAP-ready GeoTIFF files.

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

Professional CalPuff

Our most recent version of Professional CalPuff (4.00) was released August 26, 2016 and is available to all registered users with current maintenance.

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

AERMOD Wizard

AERMOD Wizard 1.04 is now out and includes these updates:

Support for downloading EPA monitoring data published in May 2020
Updated methodology for calculating 1-hour NO2 background values
Full integration of AERSURFACE 20060
Updated guidance documents and tutorials

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

If you have suggestions for an enhancement to any of our modeling software products, please let us know and we’ll do our best to incorporate it into the software ASAP!

Modeling Tip of the Month

When diagnosing problem concentrations, don’t forget to look at what’s going on in the meteorology. Maybe the wind is persistently blowing toward your problem receptor for multiple hours … maybe it’s persistent hours of low wind speeds … maybe there are some missing data. The easiest way to review a day’s worth of meteorological data is by going to "Met Options" → "Select Days" in BEEST. Uncheck "Process Entire Year", pick the day that you are interested in and click the "View Day" button.

“Our expertise is contagious. Catch it!”

Beginning with our September 2020 AERMOD classes, a new course fee pricing structure went into effect. If a student registers more than one month before the start of class, the course fee is $995 per student. If a student registers less than one month prior to the start of class, the fee is $1,095 per student. As before, if more than one student from an office/company registers for a class, each registered student has a $100 discount applied to the course fee. Other discounts, such as those for government air agency staff, are still available.

We also 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.

AERMOD Modeling for Permits

Our next scheduled AERMOD Modeling for Permits class will be February 9-10, 2021 and will be an online class. Sign up today and plan to join us in the virtual world! If you want to register, click here.

Advanced AERMOD

Similarly, our next scheduled Advanced AERMOD class will be February 11-12, 2021 and will also be online.

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

NAAQS modeling for 1-hour NO2, 1-hour SO2 and 24-hour PM2.5 (including MaxDCont Viewer)
Meteorological data processing with AERMET / AERMINUTE / AERSURFACE
AERSCREEN
Changes related to the new Appendix W (Guideline on Air Quality Models)
MAXIFILE and ARRAY2 processing
AERMOD alpha options, such as PSDCREDIT
AERMOD Wizard and its uses

Click here to register!

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 an onsite class. Have laptop, will travel!

New Webinars

Since we’re all living in an online, virtual world these days, we will be revisiting and updating our webinars that are posted here. Upcoming topics include:

BEEST Overview
Model Output with BEEST
Terrain Data
BEEST Tricks and Tips
MAXDCONT
AERSCREEN Overview
AERMOD Wizard
And much, much more

2021 Class Schedule

The rest of our 2021 classes are:

Class	Dates
AERMOD Modeling for Permits	May 25-26, 2021
Advanced AERMOD	May 27-28, 2021
AERMOD Modeling for Permits	August 24-25, 2021
Advanced AERMOD	August 26-27, 2021
AERMOD Modeling for Permits	November 16-17, 2021
Advanced AERMOD	November 18-19, 2021

Find the best dates that work for you and we’ll see you then!

BeestXpress

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 50 partitions per AERMOD run

To date, BeestXpress has processed over 400,000 AERMOD runs.

If you’ve never used BeestXpress, or it has been a while since you did, you may want to log on at www.beestxpress.com to take advantage of our AERMOD "force multiplier". That AERMOD run that might have taken a day to run 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!

BeestXpress has been updated to run AERMOD 19191.

Meteorological Data Processing Services

Do you need AERMOD-ready or CalPuff-ready meteorological data? If so, we can help! Whether it’s running the AERMET / AERMINUTE system or a full CalMet run, Providence has the background, know-how, and experience to have your data processed and ready for you ASAP. Need on-site data processed? We do that, too! 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 included 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 or info@providenceoris.com.

CALENDAR