March AERMOD Course in Toronto is Full!

The 2-day AERMOD course in Toronto on March 27-28 is sold out. The next course in Toronto is currently scheduled for September. If you are interested in attending a course before September, contact us at training@weblakes.com so that we can gauge interest for another course.

Lakes Environmental at GLOBE 2008!

Mr. Ryan Freedman, Mrs. Julie Swatson, and the rest of the Lakes Environmental team would like to thank the organizers of the Globe 2008 Conference in Vancouver BC, and everyone who stopped by our booth. Look for the winner of the draw for a free copy of ISC-AERMOD View^TM in next month’s newsletter!

US-EPA Releases AERSUFACE Model; New AERMET View^TM Version to Follow

The U.S. EPA recently released the initial version of AERSURFACE, a tool that processes land cover data to determine the surface characteristics for use in AERMET. Lakes Environmental is currently updating AERMET View (part of the AERMOD View^TM package) to provide an interface for AERSURFACE. The inclusion of AERSURFACE into AERMET View will be provided at no cost. In-maintenance users of AERMOD View should receive an update email in the near future.

See this month’s Modeling Tip for information about AERSURFACE methodology.

Lakes Environmental Wins Bid for Alberta Environment System

Lakes Environmental is pleased to announce that it has been chosen by Alberta Environment to build their new comprehensive emissions management system. Aries Web will provide an integrated emissions inventory, approvals, compliance tracking and online emissions reporting system for Alberta Environment.

Lakes Environmental Closed For Good Friday

Lakes Environmental will be closed on Friday March 21^st to observe the Canadian Good Friday holiday. If you have any pressing needs during that time, please email us at support@weblakes.com and we will contact you March 24^th, 2008 when we re-open.

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

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

AERSURFACE and Determining Surface Parameters

Release of AERSURFACE

As many people will be aware, the U.S. EPA recently released the initial version of AERSURFACE. AERSURFACE was developed to aid AERMOD users in obtaining realistic and reproducible surface characteristic values, including albedo, bowen ratio, and surface roughness length, for input to the AERMET meteorological processor.

AERSURFACE uses the NLCD92 land use data set (available from the USGS website), which only covers the U.S.A., although land use file conversion tools may be developed by Lakes Environmental in the future to aid other users.

At this point the U.S. EPA does not require the use of AERSURFACE for regulatory applications; it is recommended, however, that the methodology used in AERSURFACE should be used in such an application.

Methodology

The previous method recommended by the U.S. EPA was to consider a 3km radius around the meteorological site and define direction specific sectors. The value for each surface parameter (albedo, bowen ratio and surface roughness) would then be calculated for each sector using an arithmetic mean of land use types within the sector.

AERSURFACE calculates the surface parameters using a method that differs from the one above. The calculation of each parameter is described below. This text is taken from the AERSURFACE User’s Guide, January 2008, available at the US EPA website.

The determination of the surface roughness length should be based on an inverse distance weighted geometric mean for a default upwind distance of 1 kilometer relative to the measurement site. Surface roughness length may be varied by sector to account for variations in land cover near the measurement site; however, the sector widths should be no smaller than 30 degrees.

The determination of the Bowen ratio should be based on a simple unweighted geometric mean (i.e., no direction or distance dependency) for a representative domain, with a default domain defined by a 10km by 10km region centered on the measurement site.

The determination of the albedo should be based on a simple unweighted arithmetic mean (i.e., no direction or distance dependency) for the same representative domain as defined for Bowen ratio, with a default domain defined by a 10km by 10km region centered on the measurement site.

In-maintenance AERMOD View Users

Lakes Environmental is currently updating AERMET View (part of the AERMOD View package) to provide an interface for AERSURFACE. The inclusion of AERSURFACE into AERMET View will be provided at no cost. In-maintenance users of AERMOD View should receive an update email in the near future.

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.

Carbon Group Seeks to Open U.S. to Global Offsets

March 6, 2008 - NEW YORK (Reuters) - A greenhouse emissions business group hopes to shape U.S. climate change legislation to include broad use of international carbon offsets, like wind and solar power farms in developing countries, that are not currently in the leading climate bill.

In a letter sent on Wednesday to Rep. John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, the International Emissions Trading Association, a carbon business group, said clean project offsets encourage developing countries to participate in international carbon markets, leading to "greater climate protection at lower cost."
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Automakers Hopeful for New CO2 Limit Deadline

March 5, 2008 - GENEVA (Reuters) - Car makers are becoming more optimistic that European authorities will grant them more time to meet proposed limits on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from their vehicles -- a major point of contention between them.

As part of an effort to cut emissions linked to global warming, the European Commission has drafted tough legislation to reduce CO2 emissions from cars, with steep fines on manufacturers that fail to comply.
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Bush: Use Ethanol to Get Off Oil

March 5, 2008 – WASHINGTON (CNNMoney.com) -- President Bush said the United States should "get off oil" Wednesday as crude prices hit record highs and renewed his support for ethanol use despite concerns the corn-based fuel is driving up food prices and isn't more environmentally friendly than gasoline.

"We gotta get off oil, American has got to change its habits," Bush told a crowd at the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference, a meeting of global energy officials and an adjoining trade show that's the largest all-renewables show ever held in the United States. "It should be obvious to all, demand has outstripped supply, which makes prices go up."
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EPA Chief Grilled Over Mercury Issue

March 4, 2008 – WASHINGTON - The head of the Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday he didn't know of behind-the-scenes efforts by EPA officials to blunt state attempts to reduce mercury emissions from power plants.

Those efforts occurred even as the Bush administration argued in court that states are free to enact tougher mercury controls from power plants, The Associated Press reported last month, based on internal EPA documents.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., questioned EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson about the report at a hearing of the Senate Appropriations environment subcommittee.
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Canada’s Climate Change Plans

March 3, 2008 - VANCOUVER, BC, March 3, 2008 (GLOBE-Net) - Although a national climate change strategy for Canada is still being developed, every province and territory has initiated plans of their own to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This article summarizes the stated climate change policies of Canada’s top 5 greenhouse gas emitting provinces, and offers a comment on the implications of these initiatives for an eventual National Climate Change Plan.
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Here are a few conferences and trade shows coming up in the next few months:

*** Lakes is attending: CANECT and AWMA