Compliance Corner: U.S. EPA Modeler’s Workshop Wrap-Up |
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The U.S. EPA’s Air Dispersion Modeling Group (AQMG) held their annual Regional, State, and Local Dispersion Modeler’s Workshop event in Nashville, Tennessee from July 8-10, 2025. The in-person event was limited to co-regulating and federal partner agencies, but the first session included online access for the modeling stakeholder community (e.g., industry, consultants).
Presentations from this year’s workshop are available online. Topics covered during the meeting included:
- Development status on future updates to the AERMOD modeling system. The next releases from EPA are not planned to occur until 2026 with anticipated updates to AERMOD, AERMET, & AERSURFACE.
- Details regarding known bugs in the current AERMOD modeling system (dated 24142) and potential workarounds for these issues.
- Updates regarding EPA’s ongoing collaborations and major development priorities.
- Summaries of AQMG’s latest work to AERMOD formulation updates.
- Other technical updates from co-regulating and federal partners.
We thank EPA for hosting a session open to public participation and their ongoing efforts to engage the modeling community.
While the next major updates to the AERMOD modeling system are not planned until 2026, Lakes Software remains hard at work in developing new features in AERMOD View. Stay tuned for more information about updates coming later this year!
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Online AERMOD Training Course – Sep 9-10, 2025 |
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Don't miss out on our next available 2-day online AERMOD course taking place on September 9 and 10, 2025 from 8:30am to 5:00pm (Central Time – Chicago, USA).
Register now!
Note: Due to the immense popularity of our online courses and small class sizes, we recommend registering and making payment as soon as possible to reserve your spot.
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Online CALPUFF Training Course – Sep 16-17, 2025 |
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Spots are quickly filling for our comprehensive 2-day online CALPUFF training course taking place on September 16 and 17, 2025 from 8:30am to 5:00pm (Central Time – Chicago).
Led by our expert instructors, this course offers in-depth instruction and hands-on exercises designed to help you effectively apply the CALPUFF modeling system in real-world scenarios.
Registration is open – secure your spot today!
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Just Announced – New Online AERMOD Training! |
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We’re excited to announce the following upcoming Online AERMOD Air Dispersion Modeling Courses. Experience world-class training led by our senior air quality experts—all from the comfort of your home or office.
Online registration is open! Our online courses tend to fill up quickly, so we encourage you to register and complete your payment as soon as possible to secure your spot.
Don’t miss out - register today!
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Lakes Environmental Closed for Ontario Civic Holiday |
Lakes Environmental's Waterloo office will be closed on Monday, August 4, 2025, to observe the Ontario Civic holiday. Our Dallas support office will remain open on this day. If you have any support needs during that time, please e-mail us at support@webLakes.com. Any sales inquiries will be responded to when our offices reopen on Tuesday, August 5, 2025.
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UPCOMING TRAINING COURSES |
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MODELING TIP |
AERMOD Output: When Did a High Value Occur? |
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Contour plots are one of the most common forms of output from air dispersion models. They are useful in quickly identifying maximum concentration as well as trends in the data, but they also require a careful eye to ensure proper interpretation.
One example is the PLOTFILE output generated by the AERMOD air dispersion model. In Lakes Environmental’s AERMOD View, users enable this output type via the Contour Plot Files settings in the Output Pathway. These files report user-defined high values (ranging from 1-999) at each modeled receptor. For short-term averaging periods (e.g., 1-hour, 24-hour, etc.), these high values are time-independent meaning each reported value can occur at different times.
Contour Plot Files Settings in AERMOD View.
Knowing the date and time of a maximum concentration occurrence is very important in data analysis and interpretation. The Contour Plot Files contain this information, and AERMOD View includes a utility called the Plot File Grid View which makes this information easy to find and read. See steps below for how to access the Plot File Grid View.
Step 1: After a successful model run, navigate to the Plots tree menu.
Step 2: Select the plot file of interest. Plot files are sorted by source group, high value, and averaging period.
In the example above, the selected plot file represents the 1st high for the 1-hour average of all sources combined (source group ALL).
Step 3: Select the View As Grid button from the tree menu to open the Plot File Grid View.
Step 4: Scroll to the right to locate the Date column. You can now verify the date and time at which the concentration was modeled.
Other features of the Plot File Grid View include:
- The ability to sort data by each column. Simply click the column header to sort in ascending or descending order.
- Automated averaging of the concentration and deposition values found in the file.
- Export functionality to export the data to CSV format for easier post-processing and analysis.
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ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS ARTICLES |
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July 4, 2025 - A new study finds extreme heat reduces milk production by up to 10 percent and adding cooling technologies only offsets about half of the loss.
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