New AerScreen for Windows released

Posted by dshnayder on Tuesday, January 21st, 2020 in Newsletters

2019 Holiday Quiz Recap

Congratulations to everyone who won a Go BEEST Mode t-shirt playing our 2019 Holiday Quiz. Here are the answers:

1. Much has been discussed over the last year about something called MERPs. What does MERP stand for?

Maximum Emission Rate Processor
Modeled Emission Rates for Precursors
Minimally Eventful Rapid Pulse
Monitoring Events for Receptors and Pollutants
None of the above

Answer: b

2. Which two new source types were introduced in AERMOD version 19191?

VOLUME and BUOYLINE
AREAPOLY and FLARE
RLINEXT and RLINE
BEAVIS and BUTTHEAD
None of the above

Answer: c

3. Which of the following is *NOT* a temporal mode (secondary) keyword in AERMOD when creating ambient background inputs?

SEASHR
QUARTER
SHRDOW7
WSPEED
MONTH

Answer: b (would also accept d)

4. The AERMAP program can only process terrain data in what format?

ArcGrid
JPEG
DWG
GeoTIFF
PDF

Answer: d

5. CalPuff is a(n) _______ type of air quality model.

Gaussian plume
Lagrangian puff
Eulerian grid
Easy

Answer: b

What’s Happening Now

EPA News

EPA recently announced the dates and location for the 2020 Regional/State/Local Modelers’ Workshop. This year, it will be held May 5-7, 2020 at the Minneapolis Central Library in Minneapolis, MN. The first day (May 5) will be set aside as Stakeholder Day, allowing consultants, industry and other interested parties to attend. So, save the date and keep watching SCRAM for details as they’re released.

Conferences and Workshops

New Source Review Workshop – The next New Source Review Workshop, sponsored by AWMA, will be held March 18-19 at the Doubletree Hilton Atlanta Airport hotel in Atlanta, GA. This useful workshop provides not just an overview of the Prevention of Significant Deterioration (PSD) and Nonattainment Review (NNSR) process but will also include discussions on the latest EPA positions on applicability, emissions accounting, common control and source classification. For more information, go to https://www.awma.org/NSRWorkshop.

Other upcoming AWMA events include:

Baltimore-Washington Regional Air Quality Symposium – February 12, 2020 at the University of Maryland in College Park, MD.

Gulf Coast Annual Chapter Meeting – April 16, 2020 at the Norris Conference Center in Houston, TX.

Rocky Mountain States Section Air Quality Conference – May 14, 2020 at the Denver Marriott West hotel in Golden, CO.

And, of course, the biggie this year will be the AWMA Annual Conference and Exhibition (ACE), which will be held June 29 – July 2, 2020 in San Francisco, CA.

TCEQ Environmental Trade Fair – The 2020 TCEQ Environmental Trade Fair will be held May 12-13, 2020 at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, TX. Registration has just opened for this conference. For more information, go to https://www.tceq.texas.gov/p2/events/etfc/etf.html.

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!

BEEST Suite

BEEST 12.01 is now out and includes these updates:

Support for the RLINE source type in AERMOD 19191
Support for BPIPPRM 19191_DRFT
Restored the Download ArcGrid button on the Calculate Domain Limits for AERMAP form
Added warning for selecting 1-hr and other short-term averages for SO2 and NO2 in Control Options
Added warning for selecting 24-hr and other short-term averages for PM2.5 in Control Options

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

On November 14, 2019, we presented a webinar about BEEST 12.01 and its new features. If you missed the webinar, we recorded it and you can find it here.

"Go BEEST Mode!" — What? You still don’t have your own "Go BEEST Mode" t-shirt? Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty left – so email your request to info@providenceoris.com and receive your very own "Go BEEST Mode" T-shirt! You’ll be the envy of modelers everywhere!

AerScreen for Windows

Since AerScreen for Windows uses AERMOD, we have released AerScreen for Windows 4.00. Version 4.00 fully supports AERMOD 19191 and also includes an updated website link for downloading terrain data and the Terrain Files Converter utility.

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 on 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 1.02 is now here! It includes these enhancements:

Support for downloading EPA ambient data published in May 2019
Ability to generate forward and backward trajectories from AERMET-generated SFC data
Support for processing monitoring data for 3-hour SO2, annual NO2 and annual PM2.5
Full support for AERMET 19191

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

We’re currently working on AERMOD Wizard 1.03, which will include the ability to do MERPs analyses for ozone and secondary PM2.5 for all sites in the continental United States.

*We’re off to see 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

This month, we’ll take a little side trip into building downwash. In fact, we’ve got three little side trips into downwash. First, downwash only applies to point sources, but did you know that you can also limit which point sources you run through BPIP-Prime? When you click the "Run BPIP-Prime" icon, the option to process "All Point Sources" is selected by default. If you deselect this option, you can click the "Select Sources" button and select only the sources you want to run through BPIP-Prime.

Second, something else that’s downwash related that is now in BEEST is the ability to run the new (non-regulatory) version 19191_DRFT of BPIP-Prime. To do this, click File → Preferences on the menu bar and go to the "Model Selection" tab. For the BPIP-Prime executable, click the Browse button and then select the file BpipPrm19191.exe.

Finally, to go even further into downwash, you can test the new EPA ORD and/or AWMA downwash options. To do this, go to Control Options and then go to the "AER Default" tab. Select alpha options and then go to the "AER Non-Default" tab. You’ll now be able to select the EPA ORD and/or AWMA downwash options.

“Our expertise is contagious. Catch it!”

AERMOD Modeling for Permits

Our first scheduled AERMOD Modeling for Permits class for 2020 will be February 18-19 in Austin, TX. Register today and plan to join us in the Live Music Capital of the World. Click here to register!

Advanced AERMOD

Similarly, our first scheduled Advanced AERMOD class for 2020 is going to be February 20-21, also in Austin.

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 on-site class. Have laptop, will travel!**

2020 Class Schedule

Class	Dates
AERMOD Modeling for Permits	May 19-20, 2020
Advanced AERMOD	May 21-22, 2020
AERMOD Modeling for Permits	September 15-16, 2020
Advanced AERMOD	September 17-18, 2020
AERMOD Modeling for Permits	December 1-2, 2020
Advanced AERMOD	December 3-4, 2020

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 350,000 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 SCREEN3 and AERSCREEN to plume models like ISC and AERMOD to CalPuff to CAMx. The types of analyses included basic Significant Impact Level, NAAQS, PSD increment consumption, Class I analyses, air toxics, and SIP attainment demonstrations. Most recently, we have begun conducting nonattainment permit inter-pollutant trading (NOx for VOC) modeling using CAMx. 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.

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