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Advances in Air Quality Modeling
Citation:
Biton, L. AND G. Sarwar. Advances in Air Quality Modeling. EM: AIR AND WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION'S MAGAZINE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGERS. Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, PA, , 1, (2018).
Impact/Purpose:
Air quality modeling plays a central and expanding role in informing environmental and public health decision-making. The recent and near-future research and associated scientific advances in air modeling and techniques described in this issue may bolster confidence in air quality modeling for use in environmental decision-making for air quality management agencies, industry, and the public.
Description:
Air quality modeling is of critical importance to inform regulatory and planning activities under the U.S. Clean Air Act (CAA). Due to limitations in spatial and temporal coverage of ambient monitoring networks, air quality models are better able to characterize the ambient impacts of individual sources or demonstrate the adequacy of emissions limits for an existing source. In addition, the impacts of new sources that do not yet exist, and modifications to existing sources that have yet to be constructed, can best be determined through air quality modeling. Therefore, air quality models are relied upon by federal, state, local, and tribal air agencies across a variety of pollutants and CAA programs. For example, dispersion models are used by regulatory agencies to issue permits for new facility operations while ensuring that ambient air quality is protected. Similarly, air quality planners rely on chemical transport models (CTMs) for developing policies to address regional pollutants while still accounting for other factors, such as population growth and economic development. To effectively serve these purposes, air quality models must continually characterize complex environmental systems that necessitate advances in their science and capabilities. This issue of EM is dedicated to better understanding some of the policy-relevant advances in air quality modeling techniques that are currently being developed or proposed.