CALPUFF View Version 2.0 Just Released!

Lakes Environmental is proud to announce the release of CALPUFF View Version 2.0 on November 14th. This version is fully compatible with the following TRC CALPUFF model versions:

• CALPUFF - Version 6

• CALPUFF - VISTAS Recommended Version for BART Modeling

• CALPUFF - Official EPA-Approved Version - Version 5

Please contact us at info@weblakes.com for more details or click here to view the release notes.

TEISS View Version 1.8.255 Released!

TEISS View (Tribal Emission Inventory Software Solution) Version 1.8.255 was released on November 6, 2006. TEISS View was developed by Lakes Environmental for the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals (ITEP) to facilitate the completion of emissions inventory for tribal reservations by tribal environmental professionals. The released version of TEISS View contains the addition of the WRAP-compatible fire emissions estimator and fire tracking system module in additional to several new features.

For more information about our Emissions View software, please visit our website at https://www.weblakes.com/EmissionsView/index.html.

CALRoads View Version 3.6 Released!

CALRoads View Version 3.6 was released on October 30th. If you are currently in maintenance and did not receive an email regarding the update, please contact us at support@weblakes.com.

If you are a user of CALRoads View but are no longer in maintenance, contact us at info@weblakes.com for more information about this release and for appropriate maintenance renewal pricing information.

For more information about the features implemented in Version 3.6, click here.

International Training Courses

The month of October and the first two weeks of November, Dr. Jesse Thé was very busy teaching AERMOD and CALPUFF courses internationally. We have had excellent feedback from the participants of the courses in Australia, Brazil, and Spain.

Lakes Environmental international courses are usually organized in conjunction with our international distributors. If you are interested in courses in your area, please contact us at training@weblakes.com.

Our next AERMOD and CALPUFF international courses will take plcae in Hyderabad, India during the week of December 11 to 15. For more information about this course, please visit our website.

Global Meteorological Data Available

Lakes Environmental Software is now preparing global meteorological data for the CALPUFF, AERMOD, and ISCS air dispersion models. Data is created using the MM5 model and further processed to be compatible with the above mentioned models.

For pricing and other information related to this new service, please contact our sales team by emailing sales@weblakes.com.

We’ve set a number of training dates for 2007, with additional courses to be announced soon!

AERMOD Courses - New Course Dates Posted for 2007!

*Includes new section regarding MOE Reg. 419/05 (see Outline)

CALPUFF Courses

For more information on the above courses, such as registration information, location, and course outlines, please visit our web site: https://www.weblakes.com/courses.html.

Customized or International Courses

Lakes Environmental offers a variety of on-site, customized courses for all of your air dispersion modeling needs.  For information on pricing and availability, please email us at training@weblakes.com.

ANNUAL and PERIOD Averages in AERMOD

Introduction

The ANNUAL and PERIOD average concentrations, calculated by the US EPA AERMOD model, offer very similar results but they are calculated in different ways. This may lead to unexpected differences between the two. Once it is understood how the averages are calculated, we can see how these differences arise.

ANNUAL Averages

As discussed in the previous modeling tip (see October Newsletter), long-term averages do not include calm or missing hours in their calculations. See below how the ANNUAL average is calculated:

Single-Year Met File: The ANNUAL average is simply the sum of the concentrations from the non-calm/non-missing hours divided by the number of non-calm/non-missing hours.

Multi-Year Met File: AERMOD calculates the ANNUAL average for each year then sums the individual averages and divides by the number of years.

PERIOD Averages

Like the ANNUAL average, the PERIOD average does not include calm or missing hours.

Single-Year Met File: The PERIOD average is calculated in the same way as the ANNUAL average.

Multi-Year Met File: Rather than averaging the individual PERIOD averages from each year, AERMOD instead, averages over the entire period in one calculation, still excluding calms and missing hours.

The Difference

The difference between the two methods of averaging over multiple years is usually not noticeable. If there are no calms or missing hours, or if the calms and missing hours are distributed evenly over all of the years, there will be no difference between the two averages. However, if the calms and missing hours are not evenly distributed, there will be a difference between the two averages. The reason for this is that the ANNUAL average gives equal weighting to each year, regardless of how many calms of missing hours there are. The PERIOD average effectively weights each year according to how many non-calm, non-missing hours there are.

Illustration

To illustrate the difference between the two methods, consider the following example. For the sake of simplicity, each year in this example has only 4 hours:

ANNUAL Average =

= Sum of individual annual average concentrations/Number of Years

= [(4+5+2+5)/4 + (8+5+2)/3 + (2+4)/2)] / 3
= [4+5+3] / 3
= 12/3
= 4 µg/m3

Period Average =

= Sum of hourly concentrations/Number of non-calm, non-missing hours
= [4+5+2+5+8+5+2+2+4] / 9
= 37/9
= 4.11 µg/m3

In practice, the difference between PERIOD and ANNUAL averages is much smaller, as missing and calm hours are more or less equally distributed between years.

We are currently accepting submissions for the Monthly Modeling Tip which appears in our newsletters.  If you have a modeling tip that may benefit a variety of people, please send it to us at support@weblakes.com.   Your name and the name of your organization will appear below the tip providing you with greater exposure.

Emissions Aren't Our Fault - Car Manufacturers

A coalition of Europe's car manufacturers have hit back at criticism that they are not doing enough to tackle carbon emissions and the release of polluting gases, arguing that they are only responding to customer demands.

Read Article

Canada’s Energy Technology Priorities

The National Advisory Panel on Sustainable Energy Science and Technology has released its report on Canada’s key energy science and technology priorities and mechanisms for delivery on these priorities. The panel calls its report "a call to mobilize a major, long-term Canadian effort in sustainable energy science and technology".
Read Article

US to Boost Spending on CO2 Sequestration

The U.S. Department of Energy will provide US $450 million over the next ten years to support seven tests designed to advance carbon sequestration technologies. The announcement of the funding was made during a meeting of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.
Read Article

A Decade of Acid Rain Controls

The U.S. EPA quietly marked the anniversary of its acid rain reduction program in October, celebrating the 11th year of its successful implementation by releasing a progress report. The 2005 data analysis showed emissions of SO2 and nitrogen oxides at about 5.5 million and 3 million tons below 1990 levels, respectively.
Read Article

Is EPA Blocking Clean Coal Technology?

Environmentalists and many state officials say that coal gasification is the wave of the future but have been frustrated that the U.S. EPA has created barriers to the technology.
Read Article

Odd Ideas Emerge In Global Warming Crisis

Efforts to tackle global warming through politics are falling so pitifully short of what is needed that ideas dismissed just a few years ago as weird science are now getting a serious hearing. One novel idea is for a gigantic sunshade in space.
Read Article

Here are a few conferences and trade shows coming up in the next few months: