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Lakes Environmental Software
Volume 9 - Issue 4 Monthly Newsletter - April 2008
 
News & Events
Distributor News
Upcoming Courses
Monthly Modeling Tip
This Month’s Articles
Conferences & Trade Shows
About this Newsletter
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News & Events

New Toronto AERMOD Course in June!

To meet demand, Lakes Environmental will offer a 2-day AERMOD course in Toronto on June 16-17. If you are interested in attending the June course, contact us at training@weblakes.com or check the Upcoming Courses section on our website to register.

CALRoads View™ Version 3.9 Released

Lakes Environmental is proud to announce the release of CALRoads View version 3.9 on April 7, 2008. This version includes several new tools, an export option for WRPLOT frequency information, and an improved interface for EPA Models/Limits. For an extensive list of the changes and new options to CALRoads View, please see the latest release notes available on our website.

If you are currently in maintenance for CALRoads View 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 appropriate pricing information for your maintenance renewal.

ISC-AERMOD View™ Winner at GLOBE 2008!

The winner of our GLOBE 2008 draw for a free copy of ISC-AERMOD View is Bertha Jimenez from Efficacitas Conservando Recursos, located in Ecuador. Drop by our booth at CANECT 2008 for your chance to win a free copy of ISC-AERMOD View!

Lakes Environmental at CANECT 2008!

Lakes Environmental Software invites you to join us at the 16th Annual Canadian Environmental Conference & Tradeshow, CANECT 2008. This event is taking place on April 21-22, 2008 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre (South Building) in Toronto, Ontario. Mrs. Julie Swatson, Mr. Gareth Davis, and Mr. Ryan Freedman will be located at booth 2103 to perform software demonstrations and answer questions.

To obtain conference information and register, visit the CANECT 2008 website: www.CANECT.net.

Lakes Environmental Closed For Victoria Day

Lakes Environmental will be closed on Monday May 19th to observe the Canadian Victoria Day holiday. If you have any pressing needs during that time, please email us at support@weblakes.com and we will contact you May 20th, 2008 when we re-open.

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Upcoming Courses

We’ve set a number of training dates for 2008, with additional courses to be announced soon! Be sure to register in advance; spots are limited.

AERMOD Courses

Apr. 28-29, 2008 Chicago, IL, USA
May. 12-13, 2008 San Francisco, CA, USA
Jun. 2-3, 2008 Denver, CO, USA
Jun. 16-17, 2008 Toronto, ON, Canada
Sept. 25-26, 2008 Toronto, ON, Canada
For more information on the above courses, including registration information, location, and course outlines, please visit our web site: www.weblakes.com/course.
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Monthly Modeling Tip

Terrain Extents in AERMAP

AERMAP

AERMAP is the U.S. EPA’s terrain preprocessor for AERMOD. AERMAP provides elevations and hill height values for sources and receptors in an AERMOD project by processing a USGS DEM terrain file.

Modeling Extents and Terrain Extents

The modeling extents are the area covered by the sources and receptors in your project. The terrain extents are the area of the DEM file that is processed by AERMAP.

The size of the terrain extents is specified by the user and, as a minimum, must cover at least that area of the modeling extents. If any source or receptor is outside of the terrain extents, AERMAP will give an error message. The terrain extents must also be no larger than the available DEM files (although additional DEM files can always be added).

Despite the ability to specify the terrain extents to just cover the modeling extents, it is recommended that a larger area be covered. The hill height values are calculated at each receptor, and are used to characterize terrain features that influence the flow at that receptor. It is possible for a terrain feature outside of the modeling extents to influence the flow at a receptor, but this can only be accounted for if the terrain feature is within the terrain extents.

The guidance from the EPA is to set the terrain extents so that any terrain feature that is above a line extending out from any receptor with a 10% slope is included in the terrain extents.

In the above figure, terrain feature 1 is above a line with 10% slope extending from one of the receptors; in this case the terrain extents would need to be large enough to include this terrain feature. Terrain feature 2 is below the line, so it would not need to be included in the terrain extents.

What is not shown in the figure is that we need to consider all receptors, and consider lines with 10% slope in all directions.

Remember: We are currently accepting submissions for the Monthly Modeling Tip that 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.
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This Month's Articles

Sea Salt Worsens Coastal Air Pollution
April 14, 2008 - Air pollution in the world's busiest ports and shipping regions may be markedly worse than previously suspected, according to a new study showing that industrial and shipping pollution is exacerbated when it combines with sunshine and salty sea air.

In a paper published in the journal Nature Geoscience, a team of researchers that included University of Calgary chemistry professor Hans Osthoff report that the disturbing phenomenon substantially raises the levels of ground-level ozone and other pollutants in coastal areas.
Read Article
EU Carbon Market Sets up Another Round of Windfall Profits for Dirtiest Power Generators
April 14, 2008 - Polluting electricity generators in Europe are set to reap another round of extraordinary windfall profits from the carbon trading scheme meant to curb their carbon emissions, a new report revealed today.

The study, commissioned by WWF from world-leading carbon market analysts Point Carbon, estimates that the windfall to electricity generators in just the five states of UK, Germany, Spain, Italy and Poland over the current five year phase of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) could be between 23 and 71 billion Euros ($US 36 -111 billion ).
Read Article
Unlocking the Warming Arctic's Secrets
April 13, 2008 – For our understanding of the Arctic environment and its fate as the climate changes, one relationship is more important than all the others being studied by scientists aboard the Amundsen, a Canadian Coast Guard icebreaker converted into a floating polar research base.

It's not the complex chemical exchanges between air, snow, ice and water. Not the intricate biology and zoological web which connects plankton to polar bears. Not even the powerful physical forces which power tides and currents through the archipelago.
Read Article
Climate Change on the Prairies
April 10, 2008 – VANCOUVER, (GLOBE-Net) - Combined, the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba represent the epicenter of Canada’s agricultural and oil industries and climate change is already having impacts, both good and bad. These impacts are set to increase significantly and adaptation strategies will be required.
Read Article
Climate Change Rises on World Bank Agenda
April 10, 2008 - WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Climate change is now one of the World Bank's top concerns because of its expected impact on health and economic growth in developing countries, the bank's lead environmental economist said.

Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia are where global warming's damage will disproportionately be felt, and that makes it a key issue for the World Bank and other financial institutions aiming to foster development, said Kirk Hamilton, co-author of the Global Monitoring Report.
Read Article
Californians to Pay $600 Million for Green Think Tank
April 10, 2008 - LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - California electricity and natural gas customers will be charged $600 million over the next 10 years to fund a green think tank, the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously voted on Thursday.

A surcharge to monthly power and gas bills will fund the California Institute for Climate Solutions, linked to the University of California. The surcharge will be tacked on customer bills of investor-owned utilities and not of municipal utilities in Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Read Article
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Conferences & Trade Shows

Here are a few conferences and trade shows coming up in the next few months:
Apr. 21-22, 2008 CANECT 2008
more info
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Apr. 27-29, 2008 9th China International Environmental Protection Exhibition
more info
Shanghai, China
May 5-8, 2008 Joint Services Environmental Management Training Conference & Exposition (JSEM 2008)
more info
Denver, Colorado, USA
May. 7-9, 2008 Carbon Expo 2008
more info
Cologne, Germany
Jun. 2-5, 2008 17th International Emission Inventory Conference
more info
Portland, Oregon, USA
Jun. 12, 2008 AWMA - Ontario Section Annual Conference
more info
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Jun. 24-27, 2008 AWMA 101st Annual Conference and Exhibition
more info
Portland, Oregon, USA
July 28-31, 2008 The 4th International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology (IC-EST 2008)
more info
Houston, Texas, USA

*** Lakes is attending: CANECT and AWMA

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About This Newsletter

This newsletter contains information gleaned from various sources on the web, with complete links to the sources cited. Organizations cited are in no way affiliated with Lakes Environmental Software.

Lakes Environmental Software is a leading environmental IT company that offers a complete line of air dispersion modeling, risk assessment, emissions inventory, and emergency release software as well as training and custom software services. With satisfied users located around the globe, Lakes Environmental Software will continue to revolutionize the environmental software field.

For more information please visit our web site at: www.weblakes.com.  You may also contact us by phone at (519) 746-5995 or by fax at (519) 746-0793.

All comments and suggestions are welcome.  You can e-mail us at: support@weblakes.com
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