Modeling Tip on 2022 Met Processing Changes

Posted by Dmitriy Shnayder on Friday, October 28th, 2022 in Newsletters

What’s Happening Now

EPA News

New Clearinghouse Memo – EPA posted a Model Clearinghouse concurrence memorandum on October 14, 2022 regarding the use of two case-specific alternative model approaches for a modeled attainment demonstration of the 2010 SO2 NAAQS for the Alcoa Massena aluminum smelter in New York state. You can read the memo here.

PM2.5 NAAQS Review – Back in June 2021, the EPA Administrator announced that the agency would reconsider the December 2020 decision to retain the particulate matter (PM_2.5) National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS). Since then, EPA staff and its Clean Air Science Advisory Committee (CASAC) have been reviewing the scientific data to ascertain whether the current daily and annual standards are protective of public health. Recall that the level of the daily standard is 35 μg/m³ and the level of the annual standard is 12 μg/m³. AWMA presented a webinar on the current status of this process on October 12, 2022. EPA is keeping its cards close to its vest, so it’s not certain what changes (if any) will occur with this NAAQS. However, there is some indication that members of CASAC might prefer to see a daily standard in the range of 25‑30 μg/m³ and an annual standard in the range of 8‑10 μg/m³. Stay tuned!

Otherwise, not much else going on in the EPA world this month, but this is a heads-up that EPA’s triennial Conference on Air Quality Models will be coming up in 2023. Keep watching SCRAM for details.

Conferences and Workshops

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.

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.

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.

Professional CalPuff

Note to all Professional CalPuff users:

We are sorry to inform you that Providence/Oris has decided to end our support for Professional CalPuff. It was no longer available for purchase after May 31, 2022. We will continue to honor our support agreement until the end of your current maintenance period. If you have any questions for us about the program or any installation issues, we will be happy to help address these items while your maintenance period is active. After that, you may continue to use Professional CalPuff indefinitely without any additional maintenance fees, but also without any support from us. We will be able to supply new license keys in the future for customers who had active licenses as of May 31, 2022.

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.

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

This month’s tip is related to a change in meteorological data availability. If you’ve processed 1‑minute Automated Surface Observation System (ASOS) data through AerMinute, you downloaded the raw data files from ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/asos-onemin/. However, starting with the July 2022 1‑minute data set, NOAA has moved the files to a different location and the data are organized differently. The new location is Index of /data/automated-surface-observing-system-one-minute-pg1/access/2022. The files are organized by year (starting with 2022), then by month. Within the subfolder for each month, the files are listed by station (alphabetically). There’s only one file for each station for each month.

We will be updating AerMinute to account for this change.

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.

*NEW* Essential Air Permitting

Essential Air Permitting is Providence/Oris Training’s introductory course in air permitting for industry and other regulatory applications. Most air permitting consultants and plant environmental staff use techniques taught in Essential Air Permitting.

Essential Air Permitting is a new offering of Providence/Oris Training. Its content stands alone from the existing AERMOD Modeling for Permits course. Anyone from those new to air permits to somewhat more experienced environmental staff who want to brush up on their skills will benefit from Essential Air Permitting.

Like our other courses, Essential Air Permitting teaches students basic air permitting topics and practical strategies for compliance management. We don’t just stress theory. After all, when that big state inspection looms, knowing how to organize, manage and document compliance saves the day!

In addition, we believe in the concept of “learning by doing.” We intersperse lectures with hands‑on exercises, allowing the student to immediately practice what has been discussed in class. We feel this approach works better than a “day of lecture, day of lab” type of class.

We introduce students to some of the basic concepts of air permitting, starting with the Clean Air Act, pollutants and applicability. Then we’ll go into the specifics of preparing air permit applications for facilities that are major or minor for PSD and Title V, including BACT analysis. Finally, we’ll go over special topics such as acid rain, New Source Performance Standards and non‑attainment review. Throughout the course, hands‑on exercises help reinforce the subjects presented.

By the end of Essential Air Permitting, students should be prepared to return to the office and (with a little practice) assemble permit applications and demonstrate compliance on their own.

To summarize, Essential Air Permitting topics include:

Pollutants
New Source Review
Applicability
Emission Calculations
Title V
Construction Applications
Class I Areas
BACT
Netting
Acid Rain
Hands-on exercises

Our next Essential Air Permitting class will be December 5, 2022 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 December 6-7, 2022 and will be online. If you are wanting 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 December 8-9, 2022 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 PM2.5 (including MaxDCont Viewer)
Meteorological data processing with AERMET/AERMINUTE/AERSURFACE
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 (per class, per registrant).

On-demand Meteorological Data Processing webinar

We are about 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 starting this fall.

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 Schedule

We have tentatively set up training class dates for 2023. They are:

AERMOD Modeling for Permits
February 21-22, 2023
May 9-10, 2023
August 22-23, 2023
December 12-13, 2023

Advanced AERMOD
February 23-24, 2023
May 11-12, 2023
August 24-25, 2023
December 14-15, 2023

At this point, the February classes will be online, with the sites for the rest to be determined.

Survey Question

Would you prefer us to teach in-person classes again? If so, what locations would you like us to go to? Send your responses to info@providenceoris.com.

BeestXpress

In addition to our newer, faster processors, BeestXpress now runs AERMOD 22112.

If you’ve never used our super-fast BeestXpress before, now is the time. We have released an 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.

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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