What’s Happening Now
2023 Holiday Quiz
Well, if it’s December, it must mean it’s time for our annual Holiday Quiz. What’s that, you may ask? It’s a chance to answer some questions related to air quality modeling and then win an awesome prize. No Scan-Trons, blue books, or #2 pencils are needed. NO WAGERING, PLEASE! Send in your answers to info@oris-solutions.com. The first three correct submittals will win a Go BEEST Mode t-shirt. So, without any further ado, here’s the 2023 Holiday Quiz:
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- The acronym AWMA gets thrown around a lot in these newsletters. What does AWMA stand for?
a. Appalachian Wildlife Management Area
b. Artificial Water Management Association
c. Ambient Wind and Mesoscale Applications
d. Air & Waste Management Association
e. Attorneys With Magical Assistants - A new version of AERMOD was just released by US EPA. What is the version number of this new release?
a. 12.10
b. 12345
c. 123456
d. 23132
e. 22e0.25 - Which of these is a raw surface meteorological data format?
a. General Reaction Set Method (GRSM)
b. Integrated Surface Hourly Dataset (ISHD)
c. PSD, LAER, and Tier 2
d. Fixed and real
e. BR-549 (extra credit if you know what this refers to) - Which of these are new AERMOD source types?
a. FIRE & RAIN
b. PUFF & COCOA
c. RLINE & RLINEXT
d. SCREEN & DOOR
e. AERMET & AERSURFACE - Our AERMOD Wizard software can do some amazing things. Which of the following air quality-related parameters can NOT be viewed on-screen in AERMOD Wizard?
a. Display of National Emissions Inventory sites
b. Display of ozone nonattainment areas
c. Display of surface and upper air meteorological data sites
d. Display of all Class I areas
e. Display of all EPA MERPs sources
f. None of the above
- The acronym AWMA gets thrown around a lot in these newsletters. What does AWMA stand for?
Again, please submit your answers to info@oris-solutions.com and the first three correct submittals will win a Go BEEST Mode t-shirt. Good luck!
*HOT* Providence/Oris YouTube channel – We are excited to announce that we now have a YouTube channel dedicated to our informative, instructive videos. We’ve just gotten started but will be adding more content in the months to come. Log on to https://www.youtube.com/@providenceoris9772 and check it out. Click Subscribe and be informed every time we post new content to the channel.
EPA News
Back on October 23, 2023, EPA dropped a lot of information, so without any further ado, let’s get right to it…..
*HOT* New version of AERMOD is now out! – On October 23, 2023, US EPA released the newest version of AERMOD, v23132. In addition, we have a new version of AERMET, also denoted as v23132. This AERMOD includes:
- An update to the formulation for the General Reaction Set Method (GRSM), which is currently a beta option but is proposed to be a Tier 3 option for NO2 modeling;
- The Coupled Ocean Atmospheric Response Experiment (COARE) algorithm has been incorporated into AERMET as a beta option;
- RLINE to be incorporated as a mobile source modeling source type;
- Highly buoyant plume as an alpha option;
- AREA and VOLUME sources updated to be able to characterize aircraft sources (also alpha option);
- Area meander for area sources (also alpha option); and
- Various bug fixes
Along with the new AERMOD, EPA is releasing new versions of the AERMOD Implementation Guide, AERMOD Model Formulation Document, and AERMOD Model Evaluation Document. These can be downloaded from SCRAM.
Likewise, AERMET 23132 includes the new COARE air-sea flux procedure (for over-water applications). Now that it is a part of AERMET, it replaces the older AERCOARE meteorological processor. AERCOARE had previously been approved by the EPA Model Clearinghouse for several off-shore applications.
13th Conference on Air Quality Models – EPA’s triennial Conference on Air Quality Models was held November 14-15, 2023. This was a public conference and EPA solicited comments on proposed changes to the Guideline on Air Quality Models, as well as proposed regulatory enhancements to AERMOD. The proposed rule/notice is here. The comment period closes December 22, 2023.
If you want to see copies of the presentations from the Conference, you can see them here.
*We presented a webinar summarizing the 13th Conference on Air Quality Models back on December 6, 2023. If you missed it, you can view the recording of it here.**
*HOT* Draft Guidance on Developing Background Concentrations for Use in Modeling Demonstrations – As part of EPA’s release regarding the 13th Conference on Air Quality Models and proposed updates to the Guideline on Air Quality Models, EPA has also released the aforementioned draft guidance for stakeholder review. You can get it here. The deadline for submitting comments to EPA is also December 22, 2023.
*HOT* Proposed Changes to Guideline on Air Quality Models – EPA is initiating rulemaking to update its Guideline on Air Quality Models (GAQM or Guideline) for the first time since 2017. This effort includes the aforementioned AERMOD/AERMET updates, the proposed background concentrations guidance, and some typo fixes. Finally, due to a change in federal style/nomenclature standards, Appendix A in the Guideline (the list of preferred dispersion models) will now be known as Addendum A. You may find more details on the rule proposal at https://www.epa.gov/scram/2023-appendix-w-proposed-rule . A comment period has been opened and continues to December 22, 2023. You may submit comments addressed to the Rule Docket (ID No. EPA-OAQ-2022-0872). If EPA’s schedule holds, this rulemaking should go final during the summer of 2024. When that happens, the current beta options mentioned (RLINE, GRSM, COARE) will become regulatory options in the 2024 release of AERMOD/AERMET.
Model Clearinghouse Memorandum – The EPA Model Clearinghouse has released yet another concurrence memorandum regarding the use of the AERCOARE-AERMOD alternative model application. This approach has been proposed for an offshore wind farm to be located fifteen (15) miles off the coast of New Jersey. If you want to read the complete memorandum, click here
Conferences and Workshops
*HOT* The deadline for submitting abstracts to AWMA for the 2024 Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE) in Calgary, AB has been extended to December 11, 2023. Click here for details.
American Meteorological Society Annual Meeting – The 104th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) will be held January 28 – February 1, 2024 at the Baltimore Convention Center and the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor in Baltimore, MD. The meeting will consist of over 40 conferences and symposia, including the 23rd Joint Conference on the Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology with the AWMA. For more information on the upcoming annual meeting/joint conference, click here.
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.
Providence Products
Simply the best!
BEEST Suite
BEEST 12.09 is out and includes the following:
- Incorporates AERMOD 22112 executable; and
- AERMET user interface has been updated to use AERMET 22112
*HOT* BEEST 12.10 has just been released! BEEST 12.10 allows you to run AERMOD 23132 and AERMET 23132, but currently does not include an interface for the new COARE over-water algorithms in AERMET. BEEST 12.10 includes all of these great new features:
- *The AERMOD 23132 executable* (although the new keywords will be incorporated into BEEST 12.11;
- *The AERMET 23132 executable* (like AERMOD, the new keywords in AERMET will be incorporated into BEEST 12.11)
- Support for new AERMOD 22112 alpha keywords SWPOINT, RLINEXT, and PLATFORM;
- Ability to export new SWPOINT and RLINEXT source types to Google Earth;
- The AerMinute GUI includes download access to the new 1-minute ASOS data site (National Center for Environmental Information or NCEI web site — as was discussed in in October 2022 Providence/Oris Notes);
- We’ve added the ability to add receptors along an Other line (like a road or railroad!);
- Reads the ArcGIS world file when the user opens a background map;
- Updated Terrain File Converted to use the latest version of GDAL library;
- Added a warning in Receptor Options when the number of partitions is greater than the total number of receptors;
- Added confirmation prompt when the user clicks the “Remove last day from output files” button in AERMET;
- Added a list of ASOS station anemometer heights to guidance documents;
- An updated WindRose utility;
- And more!
We will be presenting a webinar on the new features in BEEST 12.10 on December 21, 2023 at 3 pm CST. Click here to register for it.
As always, users in maintenance can download the most recent version of BEEST from https://www.providenceoris.com/software-downloads/.
“Go BEEST Mode !” We still have plenty of Go BEEST Mode t-shirts! You can request one of those by emailing us at info@providenceoris.com.
AerScreen for Windows
AerScreen for Windows 4.03 is out! The update has these new features/enhancements:
- Runs AERMOD 22112
- Updated installer to include the latest version of Terrain Files Converter
*HOT* AerScreen for Windows 4.04 will be out later this month. It will include the new AERMOD 23132 executable.
Users in maintenance can download the most recent version of AerScreen for Windows from https://www.providenceoris.com/software-downloads/.
AERMOD Wizard
AERMOD Wizard 1.08 is out! This update has the following enhancements:
- Ability to download ambient monitoring data posted through May 2022;
- New label display option for NEI sources;
- Incorporation of AERMET 22112;
- Download raw meteorological and ambient data from Alaska and Hawaii; and
- Export on-screen NEI sources, meteorological stations, and ambient monitoring stations to Google Earth!
*HOT* AERMOD Wizard 1.09 will also be out soon (aiming for January 2024) and will include these updates:
- Updated AERMET version to 23132;
- Ability to download all of the EPA NEI 2022 ambient monitoring data;
- Ability to export Class I areas and Class I area receptors to Google Earth;
- Ability to download ASOS data from the new NCEI website;
- Inclusion of the 2020 National Emissions Inventory (NEI) data set;
- And more!
Users in maintenance can download version 1.08 of AERMOD Wizard from https://www.providenceoris.com/software-downloads/.
* We’re off to use the Wizard! *
HOT: Don’t forget – our *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 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
Just imagine – you’ve just completed a modeling report and sent it off to the agency. Some time goes by and now you get a comment from the agency that requires you to update the original AERMOD modeling. But wait – the original modeling was done with AERMOD Version 22112 and now you’re using a new version of BEEST that links to AERMOD 23132! How can you run an older version of AERMOD in a newer version of BEEST?
When you download BEEST, it automatically comes with the most recent executable version of EPA’s AERMOD model (AERMOD.EXE). However, did you know that you can run other versions of AERMOD from within BEEST (as far back as AERMOD 19191)? By default, BEEST installs AERMOD.EXE in the path\folder C:\Program Files (x86)\Providence\Beest\. If you have a previous executable version of AERMOD you want to use, you can tell BEEST to use it by going to File | Preferences | Model Selection. There, under AERMOD, you can point BEEST to whatever path/folder your older AERMOD version is in and select it. No matter what version you use, the executable file name is always “AERMOD.EXE”. A few cautions to keep in mind:
- BEEST does not display which version of AERMOD you’re pointed toward (unless you look at the File | Preferences | Model Selection menu) while setting up your AERMOD run, although when the model finishes and the version number will be shown in the LST output file.
- Also, BEEST does not return to the current version of AERMOD automatically. Once you’re done using the older version of AERMOD you’ll need to go back to the File | Preferences | Model Selection menu to link back to the current version of AERMOD.
- The model version link is not specific to a single BEEST file – it will be applied to all AERMOD runs done with any BEEST file on your computer.
- If you use the Scheduler utility to execute your model runs rather than using BEEST directly, you’ll also need to link to the desired version of AERMOD in the Scheduler under the File | Preferences menu in Scheduler.
Providence Training
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
Providence’s next Essential Air Permitting class will be held Monday, December 11, 2023, and will be online. This class it tailored to those folks who are new to air permitting or perhaps new environmental managers who need a good overview of the basic issues related to air permitting. Topics such as statutes, applicability, netting, emission calculations, and Title V are just some of the areas that are covered. To register for this Essential Air Permitting class, click here.
AERMOD Modeling for Permits
Our last AERMOD Modeling for Permits class for 2023 will be December 12-13, 2023 and it will be online. If you are wanting to get started in air modeling, then this class is for you!
To register for AERMOD Modeling for Permits, click here.
Advanced AERMOD
Similarly, our last Advanced AERMOD class of 2023 is going to be December 14-15, 2023, and it 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 PM2.5 (including MaxDCont Viewer)
- Culpability determination
- Background concentrations
- Emission scalars and hourly emission rate files
- Changes in terrain data 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 coming soon.
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.
**2024 Class Dates** As promised, here are our training dates for 2024.
| Date | Class | Location |
| February 19 | Essentials of Air Permitting | TBD |
| February 20-21 | AERMOD Modeling for Permits | TBD |
| February 22-23 | Advanced AERMOD | TBD |
| May 13 | Essentials of Air Permitting | Denver, CO |
| May 14-15 | AERMOD Modeling for Permits | Denver, CO |
| May 16-17 | Advanced AERMOD | Denver, CO |
| August 19 | Essentials of Air Permitting | TBD |
| August 20-21 | AERMOD Modeling for Permits | TBD |
| August 22-23 | Advanced AERMOD | TBD |
| December 9 | Essentials of Air Permitting | TBD |
| December 10-11 | AERMOD Modeling for Permits | TBD |
| December 12-13 | Advanced AERMOD | TBD |
*Please note that our May 2024 classes will be in-person and will be held in Denver, CO.*
Providence Services
BeestXpress
Our newer, faster BeestXpress processors run the new AERMOD 23132!
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. 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.
Calendar
December 11, 2023
Essential Air Permitting
Online
December 12-13, 2023
AERMOD Modeling for Permits
Online
December 14-15, 2023
Advanced AERMOD
Online
December 21, 2023
Free Webinar: BEEST 12.10
Online
January 29- February 1, 2024
104th Annual Meeting of the American Meteorological Society
Baltimore, MD
Our complete class schedule can always be found at https://www.providenceoris.com/training/
For More Information:
Phone: (512) 258-8855
Email: info@providenceoris.com
Visit our websites:
www.providenceoris.com (software, support, and training)
www.beestxpress.com (cloud-based high speed AERMOD)
