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:

1. Develop an understanding of various, related air quality data processing programs/systems.
2. 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.
3. Provide guidance to EPA/OAQPS regarding the role of AirQuest to work interactively with these systems and to service broader community needs.

Agenda

Day 1
(Guidance on the scope and depth of overview talks for this session is needed)
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;

• 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