What’s Happening Now
EPA News
GAQM Update Delayed – The Guideline on Air Quality Models (GAQM) rule package was signed on November 20, 2024 and published in the Federal Register on November 29, 2024. It was slated to take effect January 28, 2025 but the new Administration has delayed this to March 21, 2025. See the Federal Register Notice here. Information on the final rule may be found here.
New SO2 Secondary NAAQS – On December 10, 2024, EPA revised the secondary SO2 National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The secondary NAAQS is designed to protect public welfare. The old standard was 500 ppb, averaged over a 3-hour period. The new secondary standard is 10 ppb (about 26 µg/m3), based on an annual average. The change was published in the Federal Register on December 27, 2024 and can be found here. Stay tuned for when EPA releases information about a new Significant Impact Level (SIL), modeling guidance for it, etc.
New Upper Data Source/Availability and a New Product!
As we noted previously, the only option you now have for getting raw upper air data is from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) which can be found here.
Also, as we noted previously, AERMET is able to process the data, but we’ve found two potentially daunting issues related to the use of this data set.
First, you may find a very important field labeled as missing. This is the fourth field in the second row, shown here as missing with a missing data flag of -8888.
This is the base elevation of the upper air station, and AERMET needs to have a non-missing value here. If it reads it as missing, the sounding is skipped.
The second issue related to this data set is the size of the files. On the IGRA web site, the data are organized by country, then by station. They are not organized by year, meaning that if you find and download the data set for your station of interest, it will have ALL archived data for that station, going back to when its data was first reported/archived. In some cases, these zipped files approach 100MB in size.
To deal with this, we released our IGRA Files Extractor program. This handy utility allows you to cut out the data set you need, e.g. the most recent five years, replace all occurrences of missing station base elevations, and write out a ready-to-go-into-AERMET upper air data file. IGRA Files Extractor is now out for download on our Providence/Oris web site and is free to all BEEST and AERMOD Wizard users in current maintenance. Download IGRA Files Extractor here.
Conferences and Workshops
2025 TCEQ Environmental Trade Fair and Conference – In 2025, the location of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) Environmental Trade Fair and Conference will be in San Antonio, TX on June 3-4, 2025 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Providence will be there and we hope to see you there, too! Come by and visit us at booth 157 in the Exhibit Hall. Click here for more Trade Fair information as it becomes available.
AWMA ACE 2025 – The 2025 Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE) of the Air & Waste Management Association (AWMA) will be held June 9-12, 2025 at the Raleigh Convention Center in Raleigh, NC.
For more information on ACE 2025, 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
*HOT* BEEST 12.12 is now out! This update includes:
• Incorporation of AERMOD 24142, AERMET 24142, AERSURFACE 24142, and AERMAP 24142
• Keeps the line on the screen after the user measures the distance between two points
• Added a button to edit AREAPOLY source vertices in Source Grid View
• Added the ability to copy sources when viewing inputs graphically
• Added the ability to set met data files for a group of pollutants on the AERMOD Setup form
• The UTM zone must be set in AerMap Options before the user opens MaxDCont Viewer
• Added the ability to specify more than five receptor grids
• Added the ability to import more than five receptor grids from a DTA file
• And last, but not least, some major changes regarding the selection of subsets of receptors and subsets of sources:
o During the “Run AERMOD” model execution process, subsets of receptors may be selected rather than all the receptors in the BEEST file.
o During the “Run AERMOD” model execution process, subsets of sources (defined by existing source groups) may be selected rather than ALL of the sources in the BEEST file.
We’re most excited about the last two items on the list because they allow much more flexibility with receptors and sources within a single BEEST file. For example – let say you’re working on a NAAQS Analysis for 1-hour NO2, 24-hour PM2.5, and annual PM2.5. All of these pollutants produce project-level concentrations above the SILs and require sitewide cumulative NAAQS modeling. Setting this up in BEEST requires the 4 different BEEST files shown below.
| Analysis | Pollutant/Avg | Receptor Grid | Sources Selected |
| Project Only SIL Modeling | 1-hour NO224-hour PM2.5Annual PM2.5 | Full Gridlarge enough to capture max concentrations | Project Level Sources Only |
| Sitewide Cumulative NAAQS Modeling | 1-hour NO2 | 1-hour NO2 AOI Grid | All Sources (Proposed Project, Existing Sitewide, Off-Property)+ Ambient Background |
| Sitewide Cumulative NAAQS Modeling | 24-hour PM2.5 | 24-hour PM2.5 AOI Grid | All Sources (Proposed Project, Existing Sitewide, Off-Property)+ Ambient Background |
| Sitewide Cumulative NAAQS Modeling | Annual NO2 | Annual PM2.5 AOI Grid | All Sources (Proposed Project, Existing Sitewide, Off-Property)+ Ambient Background |
With this new BEEST release, all of this data may be stored in a single BEEST file and the selections about specific receptor grids and included source groups are made at runtime.
**We will be presenting a double-header webinar on Thursday February 27, 2025. At 2 pm CST, the first webinar will be on all of the new features of BEEST 12.12. At 3 pm CST, we’ll have a deeper dive into the new Receptor Networks feature of BEEST. Click here to register for either or both of them.**
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 4.04 is now out! The update has these new features/enhancements:
- Runs AERMOD 23132
- Terrain Files Converter has been updated to use Geospatial Data Abstraction Library 3.7
- Terrain Files Converter User Manual has been updated
We will include AERMOD 24142 and AERMAP 24142 in the next release of AerScreen for Windows.
Users in maintenance can download the most recent version of AerScreen for Windows from https://www.providenceoris.com/software-downloads/.
AERMOD Wizard
AERMOD Wizard 1.09 is out and includes these updates:
- Updated AERMET version to 23132
- Ability to download all of the EPA 2023 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 ability to export them to Google Earth)
- And more!
We will include AERMET 24142 and AERSURFACE 24142 in the next release of AERMOD Wizard.
Users in maintenance can download AERMOD Wizard from https://www.providenceoris.com/software-downloads/.
We’re off to use the Wizard!
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
For this month’s modeling tip, we’re going to look at the ARY Viewer in BEEST. Structurally/visually, it looks similar to the BEEST USF Viewer (see May 2017 Modeling Tip of the Month). However, instead of viewing AERMOD SUM files, it allows the user to view the total number of exceedances created by the ARRAY2 program in BEEST. That is, when preparing to run AERMOD, the user inputs a comparison threshold into the MAXIFILE setup. When AERMOD is running, it compares the calculated concentration for each hour, at each receptor, to that MAXIFILE threshold. When AERMOD finishes, the user can then run ARRAY2, to generate a plot of the number of exceedances at each receptor – over all 8760/8784 hours in the year:
If you click Display Output Graphically, you can then see all exceedances of your MAXIFILE threshold – not only that, but ARRAY2 also saves and displays multiples of the threshold – 1X, 2X, 4X, and 10X.
It may also be useful to view the exceedance data in a tabular format. This is where the ARY Viewer comes in handy.
ARY Viewer gives you a summary of the number of 1X, 2X, 4X, and 10X exceedances for each receptor:
Just like with USF Viewer, you can write the file to the grid shown below:
Also, like USF Viewer, you have the ability to sort and filter the grid values by any of the header columns.
Clicking the header (E.g. East (X), North (Y), Conc, etc) over each column of data will sort that column of data, ascending or descending.
And, of course, you can copy the grid of data to the clipboard and paste into Excel.
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.
**NSR Essentials**
Providence’s next NSR Essentials air permitting class will be February 17, 2025 and it will be online. This class is 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 NSR Essentials class, click here.
AERMOD Modeling for Permits
Our next AERMOD Modeling for Permits class will be February 18-19, 2025 and it will be online. If you are wanting to get started in air modeling, then this class is for you! If you want to register, please click here.
Advanced AERMOD
Similarly, our next Advanced AERMOD class will be February 20-21, 2025, and it 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 the new MaxDCont Viewer)
- Meteorological data processing with AERMET/AERMINUTE/AERSURFACE
- 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 training 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!
Here are our class dates for 2025:
| Dates | Class | Location |
| February 17, 2025 | NSR Essentials | Online |
| February 18-19, 2025 | AERMOD Modeling for Permits | Online |
| February 20-21, 2025 | Advanced AERMOD | Online |
| May 5, 2025 | NSR Essentials | Online |
| May 6-7, 2025 | AERMOD Modeling for Permits | Online |
| May 8-9, 2025 | Advanced AERMOD | Online |
| August 18, 2025 | NSR Essentials | Online |
| August 19-20, 2025 | AERMOD Modeling for Permits | Online |
| August 21-22, 2025 | Advanced AERMOD | Online |
| December 8, 2025 | NSR Essentials | Online |
| December 9-10, 2025 | AERMOD Modeling for Permits | Online |
| December 11-12, 2025 | Advanced AERMOD | Online |
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.
Providence Services
BeestXpress
**BeestXpress now runs AERMOD 24142**
If you’ve never used our super-fast cloud-based BeestXpress before, now is the time. We have an on-demand webinar that steps you through the process of setting up an BeestXpress account and sending off your first BeestXpress run. You can view the webinar here. New BeestXpress users can complete their first run with up to 50 partitions 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.
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.
OR . . . maybe you just need advice about a particular project OR you need someone to do a QA review, OR you have a very small modeling task to complete. It would be too much of a hassle to set up a contract for just a few hours of work. What to do?
Easy! Now you can purchase individual air modeling consulting hours with a credit card online through our website! Just contact us first so we’re on the same page about the scope and schedule. Go to https://www.providenceoris.com/product/1-hour-of-expert-air-modeling-consulting/
For clarity, this small-job purchasing option is for air modeling consulting only. Software customers may receive help from us at any time for software-related issues at no cost (this is included in the maintenance fees). Recent trainees may also call to ask us training-related questions at no cost.
Calendar
NSR Essentials
February 17, 2025
Online
AERMOD Modeling for Permits
February 18-19, 2025
Online
Advanced AERMOD
February 20-21, 2025
Online
NSR Essentials
May 5, 2025
Online
AERMOD Modeling for Permits
May 6-7, 2025
Online
Advanced AERMOD
May 8-9, 2025
Online
TCEQ Environmental Trade Fair and Conference
June 3-4, 2025
San Antonio, TX
AWMA ACE 2025
June 9-12, 2025
Raleigh, NC
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)
