Application of AERMOD Outside North America

AERMOD requires hourly meteorological data in a time series 1-5 years long, which is downloadable in North America free. In the rest of the world acquiring such meteorological data series can be difficult. Most of the official data sources, the national weather services, are not prepared to provide relevant data for AERMOD in reasonable time and cost. This is why, practically, the US National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) is the only source worldwide where, honoring the WMO Resolution 40 NOAA Policy, useful meteorological data series for the years 1933-2003 can be purchased at the cost of data handling and shipping in a week. (See: http://nndc.noaa.gov/?http://ols.nndc.noaa.gov/plolstore/plsql/olstore.prodspecific?prodnum=C00353-CDR-S0001). ISHWO data received from NCDC are not collected solely for regulatory models since they originate from all available observations globally. Beside the hourly data, many observations are taken only at 3 or 6 hourly intervals, and, in addition to “on the hour” measurements, there are many which are recorded at 15, 30 or 45 minutes after the hour. Moreover, in some percent of cases hourly data are missing. AERMOD, however, requires a complete sequence of hourly data and missing hourly data stop data processing immediately. After many time-wasting and eye-damaging experiences of data correcting, interpolating and formatting work, CARM Co. decided to do these operations by developing a Utility Code named ISH/DCI®. It took a full year for meteorologists and software experts to set up and test this program, which is able to investigate the type of data series available and then apply the relevant correction, interpolation and formatting procedures. Using ISH/DCI, any problematic data series from any part of the World can be formatted properly. In a year-long programming and testing project an eight-page HELP document was also prepared, which makes the whole meteorological data series generating process automatic and thus can be carried out for all regions of the world, and run even by relatively inexperienced persons. This detailed document is in the HELP portion of our ISH/DCI.exe program. Summarizing the main steps of the meteorological data formatting procedure for AERMOD: Step 1 Purchase meteorological data from NCDC; Step 2 Format and interpolate files using the ISH/DCI Utility Code; Step 3 Make further corrections in EXCEL; Step 4 Prepare input file with the SAMSON extension in AERMET; Step 4.1 Prepare a multi-year input file to enhance local representativeness; Step 4.2 Prepare territorial interpolation to enhance local representativeness; Step 5 Create surface and profile files in AERMET. In Hungary AERMOD was standardized for regulatory use in 2003 and it was endorsed by the European Environmental Agency (EEA). (See AERMOD-HNS at: http://pandora.meng.auth.gr/mds/strquery.php?wholedb&MTG_Session=bd2abde34287fec71d8de94715c997fc). Presently, the former regulatory model TRASMISSION-HNS is still in force in Hungary. This model can be traced back to the US WBRS at the R.A. Taft Center, since it was developed there with the assistance of many colleagues and presented in 1964 during the primary author's UN fellowship in the US. This model survived for 40 years and in its final form contained five years of meteorological data matrices, too, ready to apply to 150 localities covering all of Hungary. Results of a model comparison (AERMOD/TRANSMISSION1.1) can be found at: www.levegokornyezet.hu. A short demonstration of models is planned at the end of this presentation.