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Meteorological Monitoring Guidance for Regulatory Modeling Applications

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Meteorological Monitoring Guidance for Regulatory Modeling Applications United States Office of Air Quality EPA-454/R-99-005 Environmental Protection Planning and Standards Agency Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 February 2000 Air EPA Meteorological Monitoring Guidance for Regulatory Modeling Applications Air Q of ua ice li ff ty O Clean Air Pla s nn ard in nd g and Sta EPA-454/R-99-005 Meteorological Monitoring Guidance for Regulatory Modeling Applications U.S. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY Office of Air and Radiation Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards Research Triangle Park, NC 27711 February 2000 DISCLAIMER This report has been reviewed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and has been approved for publication as an EPA document. Any mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. ii PREFACE This document updates the June 1987 EPA document, "On-Site Meteorological Program Guidance for Regulatory Modeling Applications", EPA-450/4-87-013. The most significant change is the replacement of Section 9 with more comprehensive guidance on remote sensing and conventional radiosonde technologies for use in upper-air meteorological monitoring; previously this section provided guidance on the use of sodar technology. The other significant change is the addition to Section 8 (Quality Assurance) of material covering data validation for upper-air meteorological measurements. These changes incorporate guidance developed during the workshop on upper-air meteorological monitoring in July 1998. Editorial changes include the deletion of the “on-site” qualifier from the title and its selective replacement in the text with “site specific”; this provides consistency with recent changes in Appendix W to 40 CFR Part 51. In addition, Section 6 has been updated to consolidate and provide necessary context for guidance in support of air quality dispersion models which incorporate boundary layer scaling techniques. The updated document (like the June 1987 document) provides guidance on the collection of meteorological data for use in regulatory modeling applications. It is intended to guide the EPA Regional Offices and States in reviewing proposed meteorological monitoring plans, and as the basis for advice and direction given to applicants by the Regional Offices and States. To facilitate this process, recommendations applicable to regulatory modeling applications are summarized at the end of each section. Alternate approaches, if these recommendations can not be met, should be developed on a case-by-case basis in conjunction with the Regional Office. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The original (June 1987) document was prepared by the On-site Meteorological Data Work Group, formed in December 1985 and chaired by Roger Brode, EPA-OAQPS. Its members and their contributions are as follows: Edward Bennett, NY State DEC, Section 6.6; Roger Brode, EPA-OAQPS, Sections 1.0, 2.0 and 4.0; James Dicke, EPA-OAQPS, Section 5.2; Robert Eskridge, EPA-ASRL, Sections 6.2 and 6.3; Mark Garrison, EPA-Region III, Sections 3.2 and 9.0; John Irwin, EPA-ASRL, Sections 6.1 and 6.4; Michael Koerber, EPA-Region V, Sections 3.1 and 3.3; Thomas Lockhart, Meteorological Standards Institute, Section 8.0; Timothy Method, EPA-Region V, Section 3.4; Stephen Perkins, EPA-Region I, Sections 6.5 and 7.0; and Robert Wilson, EPA-Region 10, Sections 5.1 and 8.6, and parts of Sections 8.1, 8.2, and 8.5. Through their internal reviews and discussions, all of the work group members contributed to shaping the document as a whole. The work group wishes to acknowledge the time and effort of those, both within and outside of EPA, who provided technical review comments on the document. The work group also acknowledges the support and helpful guidance of Joseph A. Tikvart, EPA-OAQPS. The June 1995 reissue of the document was prepared by Desmond T. Bailey with secretarial assistance from Ms. Brenda Cannady. Technical advice and guidance was provided by John Irwin. The February 1999 reissue of the document provides updated material for Sections 8 (Quality Assurance) and 9 (Upper-Air Meteorological Monitoring). This material is the product of a workshop conducted at EPA facilities in Research Triangle Park, NC in July 1998. The workshop was conducted for EPA by Sharon Douglas of Systems Applications Inc. and three expert chairpersons: Ken Schere (U.S. EPA); Charles (Lin) Lindsey (Northwest Research Associates, Inc.); and Thomas Lockhart (Meteorological Standards Institute). Participants to the workshop were selected based on their expertise in atmospheric boundary layer measurements and/or the use of such data in modeling. Workshop participants were provided copies of the mock-up for review prior to the workshop, and were tasked to finalize the document during the workshop. The mock-up was prepared by Desmond Bailey (U.S. EPA) based on a draft report prepared under contract to EPA by Sonoma Technology, Inc. (SAI) entitled, "Guidance for Quality Assurance and Management of PAMS Upper-Air Meteorological Data". The latter report was written by Charles Lindsey and Timothy Dye (SAI) and Robert Baxter (Parsons Engineering Science Inc). The two dozen participants to the workshop represented various interest groups including: remote sensing equipment vendors; local, state, and federal regulatory staff; the NOAA laboratories; university staff; and private consultants. Participants to the workshop were as follows: Desmond T. Bailey (Host), Alex Barnett (AVES), Mike Barth (NOAA Forecast Systems Lab), Bob Baxter (Parsons Engineering Science, Inc.), William B. Bendel (Radian International, LLC), Jerry Crescenti (U.S. Department of Commerce/NOAA), Sharon Douglas (Systems Applications Intl., Inc, Workshop Coordinator), Tim Dye (Sonoma Technology, Inc.), Leo Gendron (ENSR), Gerry Guay (Alaska Dept. of Environmental Conservation), Mark Huncik (CP&L), John Higuchi (SCAQMD), John Irwin (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Host), iv David Katz (Climatronics), Shawn Kendall (Phelps Dodge Corporation), Don Lehrman (T & B Systems), Charles (Lin) Lindsey (Northwest Research Associates, Inc., Chairperson), Thomas Lockhart (Meteorological Standards Institute, Chairperson), Louis Militana (Roy F. Weston, Inc), Bill B. Murphey (Georgia Dept. of Natural Resources), Kenneth L. Schere (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ORD, Chairperson), Nelson Seaman (Pennsylvania State University), Dr. Volker Thiermann (SCINTEC Atmospharemesstechnik AG), Stan Vasa (Southern Company Services), John White (North Carolina Division of Air Quality), Dr. J. Allen Zak (NASA Langley Research Center/VIGYAN, Inc.). Peer review of the an April 1999 draft of this document was provided by Rob Wilson (U.S. EPA, Region 10) and Larry Truppi (U.S. EPA, NERL). v TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE .................................................................. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................... iv TABLE OF CONTENTS....................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES........................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES........................................................... xii 1. INTRODUCTION ......................................................... 1-1 1.1 Background .................................................... 1-1 1.2 Organization of Document......................................... 1-2 2. PRIMARY METEOROLOGICAL VARIABLES ................................ 2-1 2.1 Wind Speed .................................................... 2-1 2.1.1 Cup Anemometers ......................................... 2-2 2.1.2 Vane-oriented and Fixed-mount Propeller Anemometers ........... 2-2 2.1.3 Wind Speed Transducers .................................... 2-3 2.2 Wind Direction..................................................2-3 2.2.1 Wind Vanes .............................................. 2-4 2.2.2 U-V and UVW Systems ..................................... 2-4 2.2.3 Wind Direction Transducers ................................. 2-4 2.2.4 Standard Deviation and Turbulence Data ....................... 2-5 2.3 Temperature and Temperature Difference............................. 2-5 2.3.1 Classes of Temperature Sensors .............................. 2-5 2.3.2 Response Characteristics .................................... 2-6 2.3.3 Temperature Difference ..................................... 2-6 2.3.4 Sources of Error ........................................... 2-6 2.4 Humidity ...................................................... 2-7 2.4.1 Humidity Variables ........................................ 2-7 2.4.2 Types of Instrumentation .................................... 2-7 2.5 Precipitation.................................................... 2-8 2.6 Pressure ....................................................... 2-8 2.7 Radiation ...................................................... 2-9 2.8 Recommendations.............................................. 2-10 vi 3. SITING AND EXPOSURE ................................................. 3-1 3.1 Representativeness............................................... 3-1 3.1.1 Objectives for Siting ....................................... 3-1 3.1.2 Factors to Consider ........................................ 3-2 3.2 Simple Terrain Locations ......................................... 3-3 3.2.1 Wind Speed and Wind Direction .............................. 3-4 3.2.2 Temperature, Temperature Difference, and Humidity .............. 3-6 3.2.3 Precipitation .............................................. 3-7 3.2.4 Pressure ................................................
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