Release R5.3 is a major update release within the framework of the extended continuing support and maintenance contracts. The Release has completed final testing with data from the Republic of Cyprus Installation   on the ESS (aca2) Development Server and with data from the from the Republic of South Korea installation   on the ESS (korea) Development Server,   respectively.

Selected interface examples from Release R5.3.0.

The on-line manuals are being updated in parallel.

Main new features:

• New real-time start page with the current/latest CAMx nowcast results (NOx) and MM5 meteo forecast summary for the current hour;

• New model layout with enlarged map window for the display of model results, leading to the details display page with zooming and color editing, interactive isoline drawing, and export of model results raters.

• Implementation of dynamic emission estimates (computations transparently linked to the emission scemnarios for all model runs) for individual and classes of emission sources, based on three levels of multipliers for monthly, daily (day of the week) and hourly (hour of the day) variations.

• Implementation of a high-resolution 5-50 m computational (steady-state hourly) kernel with a user defined mixing zone for traffic generated near field concentrations, transparently integrated with AERMOD 24 hour daily simulations, can handle thousands of line sources for a larger city domain efficiently.

• New annual impact assessment tool for individual point sources, based on hourly runs of AERMOD, uses compliance/impacts at automatically defined receptor points (using the monitoring station optimization option with the default criterion: annual average over populated areas) based on annual average concentrations.

  New tools supporting direct comparison of AERMOD 24 hour (event) scenarios (incremental contributions of new sources against the domain background):

  • Direct comparison of scenario hoiyurly results, computation and display of DELTAs (incrdemental changes in ambient concentrations);

  • Simplified emission inventory editing with bulk selection (on/off) toggle buttons of emisison sources by class. Emission scenarios generate total and class specific emission matrices (new raster display function, see below).
• Population data: extendsion of the class "Receptor Area" to hold population data (total and by age group) for arbitrary, user imported polygons (shape files), including a ranking page for the class; designed to edit/import poulation data.

• Population exposure: extension of all model results/concentration raster displays by population exposure with a user defined threshold. Population data are simulated on the basis of the Land Use Class: built-up areas, using a constant population density.

• New display page with color scaling, arbitrary zooming, and toggle of transpoarent/opaque colors ovlerlay (rasters) for emission matrices (from emission scenarios).

• New screening level model: (steady state Gaussian solution using Pasquill-Turner stability class) implemented in Java, attached to the emission inventory (point sources) for a fast evaluation of a point source and its stack parameters.
  User Manual:  Point Source Applet

• Improved logging of all scheduled and interactive model runs; all activities are logged to the data base, an interface shows the entries in reverse chronological orders with error conditions highligthed in RED. Sorting and selection options facilitate the log organization and interpretation.
• New optional model component: MM5 non-hydrostatic 3D prognostic meteorological model, generates hourly fields of all meteorological data required at a 1 km resolution by CAMx, AERMET (AERMOD meteo pre-processor) and PBM. The model is run daily for 24 hour forecasts based on global weather forcast (GFS) obtained from NOAA as initial and boundary conditions for the 24 hour forecast runs.

Implementation: For the current release, daily MM5 runs at ESS are used to populate the monotoring station data base with simulated monitoring values of meteorological variables to test import of external real-time data. These are used to drive the hourly nowcasts of CAMx (SO2, NOx, PM10) with a diagnostic wind field model as pre-processor, and AERMOD with the AERMET proprocessor, as well as the daily forecast runs with PBM.

CAMx forecast runs and photochemical model runs (optional external component) are run with MM5 3D data, converted with MM5toCAMx to a 1 km resolution. The results of these model runs are initially linked to the MLSI server/implementation as external computational services.

• New optional component: emission modelling. Extended emission estimates with user defined fuel and user defined substance specific emission coefficients.

1. SCENARIO MANAGEMENT:
   • Extended run-status display in the scenario listings and selectors for AERMOD nowcast scenarios, AERMOD interactive scenarios, CAMx scenarios and PBM forecast:

     blue	no results (new or reset)
     green	results are available
     yellow	scenario is currently running
     red	run failed or nowcast/forecast is not up-to-date

   • Data Management: Internal: optional saving and using of matrices as a binary file (AERMOD traffic). So far matrices were only stored in the database.

2. EMISSION DATA:
   • Dynamic Emissions: Incorporating time dependence of emissions. The models use the emission time series of the source, if these are available. Otherwise the average emission value is used in combination with the time pattern defined for the source. If the stack has no pattern defined, the pattern of the emission scenario for the corresponding sector is used (default: 'Neutral' can be selected in the emission scenario: button 'Temporal Pattern')
     Temporal Emission Patterns can be defined as named objects, and selected for and linked to any point and area sources by (pattern) name. The patterns now also have an explicit normalization of the values so that an average of 1.0 is enforced over all periods.
     MANUAL PAGE: emissionpatterns.html
     Please note: to make the scaling factor for day of the week value work consistently, this also needs a list of (user defined) statutory holidays to be treated like Sundays.
   • Interface re-design: the hypertext cription (no data available ....) has been made optional for area sources and small stacks, with a BUTTON triggereing the hypertext and image window as a pop-up with the integrated import/edit dialog.
   
   • Sorting with interactively user defined attributes: At the main (class) selector, the sources listing can be sorted by user defined attributes (emission values, selected from a pull-down menu).
   • Incorporating Polygons of Area Sources into emission matrices:
     • CAMX: resampling at high resolution (0.2 of model grid size width) and pro-rata allocation to the model grid)
     • AERMOD: approximation with the nearest, area conserving rectangle, grid parallel, located around the polygon's center of gravity.
   • New emission data per (combustion) source with NO, NO2, NO/NO2 ratio, and corresponding modification of emission scenario generation. New data fields for NO/NO2 emissions and NO/NO2 ratio were added, NO/NO2 data are filled automatically; the default ratio is set to: 0.90
     MANUAL PAGE: emissionestimates.html

   • Emission factors implemented as a new object class with fuel specific values. The details of interface and computation strategy for derived estimates can only be finalized and tested once the final structure and content of the (external ?) emisison inventory is determined.

     Please note: the emission factor can currently only be edited directly in the data base with tools such as phpmyadmin.
     MANUAL PAGE (Release 6.0 preview): emission_factors.html

   • Traffic Emission: implement global fleet composition, emission factors per vehicle class; calculate traffic emissions from traffic frequency per segment, speed corrected. Fill in missing values on explicit re-compute of the emission inventory for all segments:
     • where frequency and speed data are available;
     • that have no direct emission data for any one pollutant;
     New data fields for emission factors and computation strategy implemented, values can currently only be added directly in the data base. The details of interface and computation strategy for derived estimates can only be finalized and tested once the final structure and content of the (external ?) emisison inventory is determined.
     MANUAL PAGE: (preview of release 6.0): emissionfactorstraffic.html

3. METEOROLOGY SCENARIOS: 3D dynamic fields generated with MM5
   • extend meteo scenario to include solar radiation for PBM, direct coupling with the PBM box scenarios through simulated observation stations;
   • Real time data base coupling: a user-defined data base connectivity editor and process control obtaoins the nowcast data (from a local or remotre data base) every hour and insert them into the appropriate (real-time or forecast) Monitoring Station; Stations provide meteorological inputs for the scheduled runs (hourly or 24 hour forecasts for AERMOD/AERMET and PBM.) One or several stations can be linked through the meteorological scenario OBJECT CLASS to the diagnostic meteorological model DWM to generate alternative wind fields from (simulated) anemometric monitoring data to drive CAMx model runs with 1 km meteo data grids..

   • MM5 prognostic meteorological model:
     • improved MM5 data download, using conditional retrys and alternative data servers to improve reliability; alternative data sets for historical runs: generation of the boundary conditions for the prognostic meteorological models from historical data sets, e.g., based on public domain global weather data from NCAR (http://dss.ucar.edu/datasets/) Including the following DSS datasets:
       • NCEP Global Analyses "FNL" (DS082.0, DS083.0. and DS083.2.)
       • NCEP ADP Observational data (DS353.1, DS353.4 and DS464.0).
       • ECMWF TOGA Analyses (DS111.2)
       • NCAR/NCEP Reanalysis Project "NNRP" (DS090.0)
       • ECMWF Reanalysis Analyses "ERA" (DS115.0)
       • GCIP NCEP Eta model output "AWIP" (DS609.2)
     • Generating Monitoring station from MM5 results

4. AIR QUALITY MODELS:
   • PBM photochemical box model
     • connect to the shared emission scenario
     • connect to the shared meteo scenario
     • implementation of a scenario checker for meteo data for PBM
   • Model Results (CAMX, AERMOD):
     • Display of the area with concentrations above the limit value
     • tape deck for selection of the hour for which the meteo parameters and the results are displayed
   • Compliance:
     • generate timeseries of concentrations taken from result matrix at the point of monitoring stations and building points (simulated observation points);
     • Showing those timeseries as a graph, comparing measured data (if available) with simulated data
   • AERMOD
     • new standard layout with larger map window;
     • include traffic (line sources) into AERMOD scenarios, computed in parallel with high resolution (independently) display of the Computational Kernel including mixing zone parameters
     • AERMOD Impact assessment: annual runs on an hourly basis for selected individual sources and exposure assessment (overlay with populated areas);
   • CAMx
     • new standard layout with larger map window
     • for chemistry mechanism 'CB4 chemistry' the result matrix of NO and NO2 concentrations is shown in addition to O3 concentrations
     • for chemistry mechanism 'NOx': NO2/NOx ratio may be edited, compliance refers to NO2
     • option to select the meteo type (MM5 or Monitoring Station) to maintain backward compatibility with the Cyprus installation;
     • Display of emission scenarios of CAMx subdomains:
       • At the 'Overview' page of an interactive CAMx Scenario: The 'Emissions' button leads to the emission scenario of the main domain and can be edited.
       • At the page of a Nowcast/Forecast scenario
         • If the main domain is selected, the 'Emissions' button leads to the emission scenario of the main domain.
         • If the scenario is in 'edit' mode the emission scenario can be edited.
       • Whenever a run is performed, all changes of the emission scenario of the main domain are propagated to the emission scenarios of the subdomains. For technical reasons it is not possible to edit the emission scenarios of the subdomains independently.
       • At the 'result' page of a CAMx Scenario or at the page of a Nowcast/Forecast scenario: The 'Emissions' button leads to the emission scenario of the selected domain.

User requests addressed:

1. Navigation strategy: Several changes in the navigation style to reduce the use of pop-up windows. Pop-up usage is being successively reduced and replaced by shared windows.

2. Arbitrary interactive zooming for model output pages with background map, model results, source display, and isolines has been implemented.
   MANUAL PAGE: details.html

3. OBJECT read-back from maps for emission sources and monitoring stations, the corresponding OBJECT NAME will be displayed when the mouse is moved over the corresponding symbol on a map display.

4. Interactive domain definition  to modify/extend the set of Model domains for all domain definitions: requires domain name, center, extent in 3x3 km cells Interactive domain editor implemented to allow user to to this directly. Reconfiguration of domain selection of all scheduled model runs is interactively now (button 'edit/lock') for users with administration rights.
   MANUAL PAGE: domain.html
   MANUAL PAGE: rtscenario.html

5. Polygon import feature for area source boundaries: support for an alternative format (ArcInfo e.00) was added to shape files (vector coverages)
   Please note:   this is implemented for single feature/element .e00
   MANUAL PAGE: MapImport.html

6. Emission scenario display for CAMx subdomains: At the 'Overview' page of an interactive CAMx Scenario: The 'Emissions' button leads to the emission scenario of the main domain and can be edited. At the page of a Nowcast/Forecast scenario: If the main domain is selected, the 'Emissions' button leads to the emission scenario of the main domain. If the scenario is in 'edit' mode the emission scenario can be edited.

   Whenever a run is performed, all changes of the emission scenario of the main domain are propagated to the emission scenarios of the subdomains. For technical and logical consistency) reasons it is not possible to edit the emission scenarios of the subdomains independently.

   At the 'result' page of a CAMx Scenario or at the page of a Nowcast/Forecast scenario: The 'Emissions' button leads to the emission scenario of the currently selected domain.

7. Receptor Areas as named objects, implementation of arbitrary polygon geometry definition by polygon/shapefile, same import style as for area sources;
   MANUAL PAGE: receptorarea.html

8. Building Point object class for receptor calculations with tabular summary, class and editing and geometry/polygon import implemented. CLASS ATTRIBUTES: name, type, location, OBJECT META DATA
   MANUAL PAGE: buildingpoints.html

9. Monitoring station location: user defined extend around a point source; user define pollutant (SO2/NOx/PM10); user defined meteorological monitoring station and year selection (subject to data availability); uses 365*24 hourly runs of AERMOD determines matrix of annual average concentrations. Finds three potential monitoring locations by determining the points of highest annual average concentration in populated (map overlay) or user defined receptor areas, proceeds to second/third alternative with a user defined exclusion radius around previous solutions.
   PLEASE NOTE: For a succesful annual run, the meteorological time series must be complete (see below for automatic patching options). If the data set is incomplete, the attempted model run will produce an error message indicating the extent of missing data; Depending on domain size, a model run (single point source) takes 30-120 minutes, currently implemented as a remote service at ESS for testing and tuning, which requires a second login for user authentication.
   MANUAL PAGE: monitoringlocation.html

10. Patching missing values: in monitoring time series, up to four consecutive (hourly) values are patched (on request, intereactively, BUTTON: ) by linear interpolation or by repeating the last available value (wind direction); in the time series display and analysis tool, patched values are shown in a different color, and can be RESET to missing.
    MANUAL PAGE:

11. Gridded emissison data (emission matrices) as distinct objects and topical maps, data export facility (CSV).
    MANUAL PAGE: emissionmatrices.html

12. Emission Maps, gridded in 100 m (local domains) or 1 km (whole island) regular cells, by sector and substance, shown over a background map with basic descriptive statistics. Emission maps are generated for scheduled runs automatically, for interactive scenarios by clicking button 'recalculate' or when the interactive model scenario is run, and can be generated from the emission inventory on demand interactively.
    MANUALS PAGE: emissionmatrices.html

13. AERMOD: updated interface and integration to the latest release version, Release: AERMOD Version 04300 (2004) sources from: http://www.epa.gov/scram001/dispersion_prefrec.htm, added more configuration options (particulates).

14. Area source implementation Area source polygon representation implementation was updated for improved performance:
    CAMx
    The emission scenario of CAMx scenarios includes the polygons approximated by squares which have 1/5 of the grid resolution CAMx uses these gridded polygon emissions
    AERMOD
    Approximate treatment of area source polygons in AERMOD: Polygons are approximated by a rectangle centered at the centroid of the polygon, with the area of the polygon and the format of the circumscribing rectangle of the polygon These rectangles are treated as separate area sources The emission scenario of AERMOD scenarios includes also the approximated polygons.

15. Meteo scenarios: re-implement with real-time data and data availability checking, (see also: re-implementation of real-time scenarios below) extend the meteo scenario display, read upper air data explicitly from a real-time station, generate logfile entry for runs aborted due to missing data; added new scenario display for (optional) MM5 output, checking for AERMOD annual meteo scenarios; checking is on the level of the model scenario.
    MANUALS PAGE:

16. Traffic Model: AERMOD based local high-resolution (2-20m) computational kernel with mixing zone apporach implemented, kernel extend to full city coverage and 24 hour runs, add configuration and pre-view for the computational kernel.
    MANUALS PAGE:

17. PBM: scheduled runs and scenario linked to emission inventories including temporal pattern; full integration with the meteo scenarios compatible with AERMOD and CAMx; extended meteo scenario to include solar radiation explicitly.
    MANUALS PAGE:

18. Checking functions to make sure all scenarios are complete, consistent and plausible before starting any model runs, provide basic diagnostics if runs need to be aborted; checker function (button: CHECK) reports on missing data, aborts runs if more than patchable holes (see above) are encountered; check is run automatically before any scenario model run, or manually triggered.
    MANUALS PAGE:

19. Log files: user accessible log file for error log; log any use of defaults or missing data leading to ABORTED RUNS.
    log all model runs (start/end) to identify failures/crashes. the log list is automatically trimmed every day to not exceed 30 days of coverage. DATA BASE and reporting interface implemented (link from the main application start page); logs all CAMx runs and login/logout,
    MANUAL PAGE: syslog.html

20. Scheduled scenarios and real-time data integration have been re-implemented. The CAMx AERMOD and PBM Nowcast and Forecast scenarios have a (predefined, named) meteo scenario attached that can be edited interactively. The meteo scenario provides the possibility to associate one or more meteo stations that
    • are expected to contain data for the (forecasting or nowcasting) period in questions;
    • are used to derive the
      • data fields (CAMx) using DWM and the CAMx meteo pre-processor
      • scalar meteo data that are used by the AERMET pre-processor for AERMOD or PBM directly.
    If the meteo station has data for the date and period of the the current model runs, the run and its pre-processors will be started, otherwise aborted and a log entry (see also: Log files above) 'FAILED' is generated.
    The data base implementation connecting to any (network) accessible data base server and its interactive configuration interface are described below.
    MANUAL PAGE: rtscenario.html

21. Real-time Data: on the Monitoring Station display menu there is a button "RT Data", which leads to an interface for the configuration information for the internal real-time data aquisition mechanism from one or more data base servers in the same (= accessible LAN or WAN) network.

    This currently requires that data to be loaded on a regular basis (hourly, daily) is available on a database-server accessible by the Airware System through its IP-address and the user/password information. Per station data are:

    • Database-user and password
    • Database type
    • IP-adress of the server running the database
    • Database name
    • Table name
    • Date column
    • Time column
    • Status (active /inactive) for switching on/off the data retrieval.
    
    For each timeseries (which defines the required parameter and unit) the station shows in its selector additional information like
    • Column name
    • Database name
    • Table name
    If Database and/or Table name are omitted, this information will be taken from the corresponding stations connect information as default.
    MANUAL PAGE: rttsdata.html

22. Manual Pages the corresponding on-line manual pages have been updated or extended.