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Progress Toward Meeting the Challenges of our Coastal Urban Future
Citation:
Pullen, J., J. K. CHING, D. Sailor, W. Thompson, W. Bornstein, AND D. KORACIN. Progress Toward Meeting the Challenges of our Coastal Urban Future. BULLETIN OF THE AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY. American Meteorological Society, Boston, MA, 89(11):1727-1731, (2008).
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory′s (NERL′s) Atmospheric Modeling Division (AMD) conducts research in support of EPA′s mission to protect human health and the environment. AMD′s research program is engaged in developing and evaluating predictive atmospheric models on all spatial and temporal scales for forecasting the Nation′s air quality and for assessing changes in air quality and air pollutant exposures, as affected by changes in ecosystem management and regulatory decisions. AMD is responsible for providing a sound scientific and technical basis for regulatory policies based on air quality models to improve ambient air quality. The models developed by AMD are being used by EPA, NOAA, and the air pollution community in understanding and forecasting not only the magnitude of the air pollution problem, but also in developing emission control policies and regulations for air quality improvements.
Description:
Coastal urban regions are a nexus for climate change effects, extreme weather impacts, chemical/biological threats, and air quality issues as the global population increasingly concentrates in cities and megacities at the land/water interface. Sophisticated observational and modeling tools for the coastal urban oceanic and atmospheric domain are emerging to confront these diverse hazards. A coordinated interdisciplinary survey of the applications of these tools to assess past and future changes to the physical environment (air, water, land) surrounding urban centers was a primary goal of our joint coastal-urban conference. Close integration of the Seventh Conference on Coastal Atmospheric and Oceanic Prediction and Processes and the Seventh Symposium on the Urban Environment was achieved through six joint sessions, four of which were plenary. Morning plenary talks each introduced one of the following daily themes, which were further explored in each conference: Coastal vulnerabilities, climate change, and urban planning; Advancing our modeling capabilities/tools; Observing and forecasting in the urban-coastal zones; and Modeling for emergency response, dispersion, and air quality in urban-coastal areas.
