Air Quality Data Summit
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Conference Room C113
February 12 – 13, 2008
Purpose
Bring together those organizations and individuals with key roles in retrieving, storing, disseminating and analyzing air quality data in order to explore efficient means of leveraging the numerous operations underway, and to assist EPA/OAQPS in defining its role in the larger air quality data community.
Objectives
- Develop an understanding of various, related air quality data processing programs/systems.
- Based on 1, consider developing a community-wide strategy that enhances communications across these systems by identifying efficiencies, minimizing redundancies, and addressing user defined needs.
- Provide guidance to EPA/OAQPS regarding the role of AirQuest to work interactively with these systems and to service broader community needs.
Motivation
Note: This meeting is being driven by a number of events and discussions over the last five years that include:
- perceived frustration and/or misunderstanding in accessing EPA data bases,
- development of user friendly air quality data processing tools by Regional Planning Organizations (RPOs), the Health Effects Institute (HEI) and other organizations
- enhanced emphasis on inter agency collaboration through venues such as GEOSS
- elevated interest in using disparate sources of air quality observations (e.g., surface and satellite data), emissions and model results in conducting assessments
- Recognition of incorporating multiple spatial scales, and therefore a variety of information sources, to address increasing importance of hemispheric transport and climate-air quality interactions, and
- Recommendations from EPA’s Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee’s subcommittee on monitoring encouraging EPA to foster greater access and analysis of air quality data bases.
Agenda
Day 1
(Guidance on the scope and depth of overview talks for this session is needed) see Agenda Design
8:00am Welcome - Wayland
8:10am Goals and organization = Scheffe
8:30am Inventory of Data Systems (15min. ea.) - Dimmick/Keating
- Air Quality System (AQS) - Miller
- CASTNET - Lear
- AIRNow - Dye
- NASA Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) - Szykman
- NEI & EMF - Houyoux
- Air Quality Modeling Results (e.g., VERDI) - Schewe/Gilliland/Possiel
- Group Discussion
10:15am Break
10:30am Inventory of Data Processing Centers (15 min. ea) - Lorang
- DataFed - Husar
- Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) - Falke
- AirQuest - Dickerson/Cakir
- Visibility Information Exchange Web System (VIEWS) -Schichtel
- HEI Air Quality Data Base - Pun
- Giovanni - Lindsay
- Remote Sensing Information Gateway (RSIG) - Paulsen
- Environmental GeoWeb - Walter
- Group Discussion
12:30pm Lunch
1:30pm Breakout Sessions – addressing three objectives of meeting; Breakout Session Questions
- Group A – IT harmonization / format and obstacles - Dickerson/Falke
(Room Cxxx) Notes: Mangus
- System Redundancies…wasteful or necessary?
- Efficient Data Transfer for optimum data display and analysis
- Integration of Modeling, Emissions, Monitoring, Meteorological and Satellite data
- Technical and Institutional obstacles
- Group B – User needs - Schichtel/Engel-Cox
(Room Cxxx) Notes: Frank
- How to best utilize and integrate existing graphical front ends (e.g. VIEWS/AirNow Tech/Air Explorer).
- User friendly system design to accommodate needs of general public and specialized data analysts.
- Desired data applications:
- Access, sort (and aggregate) by time, space and pollutant species key base year and future scenario CMAQ simulations; create tabular and graphical/map displays.
- Access, sort by time, space and pollutant species, emissions data associated with CMAQ simulations, above; create tabular and graphical/map displays.
- Access, sort by time, space and pollutant species AQS, IMPROVE, CASTNET ambient, surface-based observations; create tabular and graphical/map displays.
- Desired Data Applications:
- Create graphical/map displays generally for CMAQ, emissions, and ambient, surface-based observations
- Access, sort by time, space and pollutant species NASA satellite data sets available through DataFed-ESIP; Giovanni, AirQuest, RSIG or other repositories.
5:00pm Adjourn
Day 2
8:30am Report out from each group (30min. ea.)
- Group A
- Group B
9:30am Break
9:45 Group Discussion - Young
- Tying pieces together
(Raw data -> Processing Centers <- Enhanced/additional processing)
- Group recommendations
- Role of GEOSS and EPA OEI
11:00 Next Steps - Wayland/Scheffe
11:30am Meeting Adjourn
Participants
Participants -- Air Quality Data Summit (invited as of 12/17/07)
Phil Dickerson* OAQPS
Brad Johns OAQPS
John White OAQPS
Janet Cakir* OAQPS
Nick Mangus* OAQPS
Jon Miller* OAQPS
Norm Possiel* OAQPS
Tyler Fox OAQPS
Doug Solomon OAQPS
Marc Houyoux* OAQPS
Phil Lorang* OAQPS
David Mintz OAQPS
Neil Frank* OAQPS
Tesh Rao OAQPS
Marc Pitchford NPS
Richard Haeuber OAR
Gary Lear* OAR
Melissa Rury OAR
Heidi Paulsen* OEI
Fred Dimmick* ORD
Eric Hall ORD
Tom Scheitlin OEI
Terry Keating* OAR
Steve Young* OEI
Susan Lundquist OEI
Randy Waite OAQPS
Bryan Hubbell OAQPS
Tom Rosendahl OAQPS
Bret Schichtel* NPS
Shawn McClure University
Rudy Husar* University
Stefan Falke* University
Tim Dye* Contractor
Betty Pun* Contractor
Greg Sunshine (will not be able to attend)
L. Friedl NASA
Jim Szykman* NASA
Jill Engel-Cox* Contractor
Frank Lindsay* NASA
Ray Hoff (will not be able to attend)
Uma Shankar University
Sharon Phillips OAQPS
Donna Schwede* ORD
Alice Gilliland * ORD
Gary Walter* ORD
Steve Fine NOAA
Shobha Kondragunta NOAA
Bob Kelly EPA
Rebecca Rosen EPA
Richard Payton EPA Region 8
Mike Gilroy State/Local
Rich Poirot State/Local
Beth Schwehr State/Local
Donna Kenski State/Local
Tom Moore State/Local
N. Kumar (will not be able to attend)
Ken Demergian University
Jeff West ORD
Ted Russell University
Val Garcia ORD
George Allen State/Local
Dirk Felton State/Local
Dick Wertz Consultant
Jay Al-Saadi NASA
Nancy Ritchey NASA
Jim Closs NASA
Ed Lillis OAQPS
Louis Sweeny Consultant
Rob Willis Consultant
Sharon Leduc NOAA
Glenn Rutledge NOAA
Les Hook ORNL
Ken Knowle State/Local
Bill Sukloff Canada
Jerry Johnston OEI
Chet Wayland* OAQPS
Rich Scheffe* OAQPS
Joe Tikvart OAQPS
Bill Lamason OAQPS
- currently listed on agenda
Summary of Air Quality Data, Data Processing, and Data Analysis Systems
AQS
The Air Quality System (AQS) is EPA's repository of ambient air quality data. AQS stores data from over 10,000 monitors, 5000 of which are currently active. State, Local and Tribal agencies collect the data and submit it to AQS on a periodic basis.
CASTNET
The Clean Air Status and Trends Network (CASTNET) is the nation's primary source for data on dry acidic deposition and rural, ground-level ozone. Operating since 1987, CASTNET is used in conjunction with other national monitoring networks to provide information for evaluating the effectiveness of national emission control strategies. CASTNET consists of over 80 sites across the eastern and western United States and is cooperatively operated and funded with the National Park Service.
AIRNow
AIRNow is a Web site that provides the public with easy access to national air quality information. The Web site was developed by EPA, NOAA, NPS, tribal, state, and local agencies and offers daily forecasts of the air quality index (AQI) which is an index for reporting daily air quality. It also provides real-time AQI conditions for over 300 cities across the U.S. and links to more detailed State and local air quality Web sites.
DAACs
The Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAAC's) process, archive, document, and distribute data from NASA’s past and current Earth-observing satellites and field measurement programs. Each center serves a specific Earth-system science discipline and provides users with data products, services, and data-handling tools unique to the center's specialty. User services include: assistance in selecting and obtaining data; access to data-handling and visualization tools; notification of data-related news; and technical support and referrals.
VERDI
Visualization Environment for Rich Data Interpretation (VERDI) has been developed as an alternative to PAVE for analyzing the results of CMAQ. This software tool is written in open-source JAVA and is platform independent. VERDI contains most of the functionality of PAVE as well as additional capabilities. In addition to CMAQ outputs, VERDI can also be used to examine data from the Meteorological-Chemistry Input Processor (MCIP) and the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). A structured reader is included to facilitate development of capabilities for reading other data files. VERDI is intended to be community-based as the source code will be publicly available and user community contributions will be encouraged.
DataFed
DataFed is Web services-based software that non-intrusively mediates between autonomous, distributed data providers and users. DataFed is designed in accordance with the GEOSS architecture, so that it provides standard interfaces to heterogeneous distributed data, fosters data integration and use with processing services and tools, and collects metadata and user-feedback on datasets. DataFed provides access to over 50 distributed, air-quality relevant datasets which can be explored and analyzed by tools for processing and visualization.
ESIP
The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) is a consortium of 90+ organizations that collect, interpret and develop applications for remotely sensed Earth observation information. Included in the ESIP network are NASA, NOAA and USGS data centers, research universities, government research laboratories, supercomputing facilities, commercial enterprises, etc. The ESIP Federation is building the Earth Information Exchange, an interface where earth science data, products and tools will be made available. The interface will be a portal that provides access to the information holdings of member organizations through one web-based location and provides a robust marketplace in which the products and services needed to use and understand this information can be readily acquired. The Exchange will be linked to USGS’s Geospatial One Stop portal, NASA’s Earth Science Gateway, the Global Change Master Directory, and the EOS Clearinghouse, integrating much of the available data and information and making it available through one access point.
AirQuest
AirQuest is an integrated air quality database including data from AQS, AIRNow, the emissions inventory, and CMAQ runs. Working in collaboration with the NASA 3D-AQS project, AirQuest also includes data from satellite sensors and ground-based lidar, formatted to be compatible with EPA monitors and with CMAQ. Data can be visualized through the AirQuest GIS system and are compatible with ArcGIS, GoogleEarth, and SAS.
VIEWS
The Visibility Information Exchange Web System (VIEWS) is an online exchange of air quality data, research, and ideas designed to understand the effects of air pollution on visibility and to support the Regional Haze Rule enacted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce regional haze and improve visibility in national parks and wilderness areas.
HEI Air Quality Database
The HEI Air Quality Database focuses on levels of PM2.5 components and gaseous pollutants at and near sites in the EPA's PM2.5 Chemical Speciation Trends Network (STN) and State, Local and Tribal air monitoring stations (SLAMS). The Database is available to investigators interested in using the information for studies on air quality and health. Currently, the Database contains information on speciated PM components and gaseous pollutants at these sites for the years 2000-2006 and it is anticipated that the information will be updated regularly over the next 1-2 years.
Giovanni
Giovanni stands for the "Goddard Earth Sciences Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) Interactive Online Visualization ANd Analysis Infrastructure." It is a Web-based application developed by GES DISC that provides a simple and intuitive way to visualize, analyze, and access vast amounts of Earth science remote sensing data without having to download the data.
RSIG
The Remote Sensing Information Gateway (RSIG) provides a way for users to get the multi-terabyte, environmental dataset they want via an interactive, Web browser-based application. With RSIG users are able to download and parse files (environmental data and models) in minutes, and to integrate selected datasets into a unified visualization.
Environmental Geoweb
Environmental Geoweb involves geospatial technologies for accessing and visualization of earth science information (focus on satellite data and “layering” capability).