IMPROVE WebsiteStatus and Great Things to Come

Presented to the IMPROVE Steering Committee Okefenokee, GA September 2008

B.A. Schichtel

http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/IMPROVE

•Data

•Tools

•Publications

•Special Studies

•Education

•Activities

IMPROVE’s Evolution

IMPROVE Website Purpose

Transparency: Document IMPROVE activities: committee, laboratories, users

Traceability: Document and provide access to ancillary data

– Calibration factors – Blank corrections– Database version control with documentation

Inform users of data QA/QC activities and issuesProvide access to educational material and documents on visibility issues, science and regulations

VIEWS’ Purpose

VIEWS to be a source of the most relevant, up to date and quality assured air quality data for visibility and other applications

– Link air quality monitoring data, emissions data, modeling results to support environmental science, planning and regulations

Leveraging VIEWS infrastructure and tools– WRAP Technical Support System (TSS)– Fire Emission Tracking System (FETS)– Addition of EPA ozone data– NASA ROSES projects

IMPROVE/VIEWS Growing International User Community

Average unique visitors a month – IMPROVE - 2200 ; VIEWS - 1100

Over 1200 registered users from over 300 organizations, institutions, universities, and companiesVisitors from 164 different countries have accessed the websites including visitors from Iran; Iraq and now from Afghanistan and SurinameHundreds of other websites Link to IMPROVE and VIEWS175 – 350 unique queries to the database a month1000s dynamic images generated a month

Major Change to the VIEWS/TSS TeamJohn Huddleston - Rodger Ames’ replacement – Starts yesterdayDuli Chand – young researcher which will work on NASA ROSES project – Starts in FebruaryTop Priorities for John Huddleston– Update and smooth out IMPROVE data ingestion and

routines including calculation of composite parameters and aggregations

– Unification and harmonization• Migrate data visualization tools to new visualization

software (Dundas) with tight integration with production database

Additions - Data

IMPROVE aerosol data update - periodically– Final data is available through December 2006– Complete preliminary data: None– Incomplete preliminary data (mass, ions, C): None– January 2007 – June 2008 data by December 2008

• Data submission will include calibration factorsOptical data updates– Nephelometer scattering data (quarterly)

• 1993 through June 2008 data available from online database.

– Transmissometer extinction data (annually) DONE• ASCII files: 1987 – 2006• This is the end, my only friend the end …. (J. M.)

Additions – Data Continued

Regional Haze Rule Metrics: best and worst 20% haze days

– RHR1 (old algorithm) data available through 2004– RHR2 (new algorithm) data available through 2006

• Not all aggregations have been added to the database and data visualization tools are incomplete – should be updated in the next month or so

Data issues to be resolved on the next update– Mis-reporting of light-absorption on masked filters (data

advisory #21)– Invalid data for collocated samples (data advisory #20)

Additions - Documents2007 IMPROVE Steering Committee Meeting PresentationsLatest IMPROVE newsletters and meeting minutes 2008 IMPROVE CalendarSOPs

– UCD: SOP 126 Site Selection– UCD: SOP 351 Data Processing and Validation– DRI Model 2001 Thermal/Optical Carbon Analysis (TOR/TOT) of

Aerosol Filter Samples – Method IMPROVE_A (2-216R2)Presentations and Summary from the IMPROVE - CSN Carbon PM Monitoring Workshop, UC, Davis, Jan 22- 24, 2008 QA/QC

– 6 new data advisories by W. White• Added two “limited-life” data advisories

– UCD QA/QC quarterly reports 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarter for 2006 added

Additions - Gray Literature

Brochure and schematic of the Navajo Generating StationRegional Haze Rule Natural Level Estimates Using the Revised IMPROVE Aerosol Reconstructed Light Extinction Algorithm

Additions – EPRI Visibility Reports

Peter Mueller saved a number of EPRI reports:– Western Regional Air Quality Studies – Visibility and Air

Quality Measurements: 1981 – 1982. – I. Tombach, D. Allard, R. Drake, and R. Lewis

– The Sub-regional cooperative electric utility, Department of Defense, National Park Service, and EPA Study (SCENES) on Visibility: An Overview – by P. Mueller, D. Hansen, and J. Watson

– Regional Air Quality Studies: The Needs and the Priorities – by G. Hilst

– Comparison of Visibility Measurement Techniques: Eastern United States – I. Tombach and D. Allard

New ToolsShawn McClure has been working on VIEWS-2 which contains a number of enhanced geographical display tools including contours – see Demo

VIEWS 2.0

New Metadata Browser

VIEWS 2.0: New Query Wizard

VIEWS/TSS Analysis Tools: Dynamic Contour Maps

VIEWS/TSS Analysis Tools: Dynamic Data Maps

VIEWS/TSS Analysis Tools: Dynamic Time Series

VIEWS 2.0: IMPROVE Data Advisories

IMPROVE Data Advisories document interesting findings from the IMPROVE database such as data anomalies, potential problems, and new uses for the IMPROVE data.

These advisories are stored as metadata in the VIEWS database and dynamically associated with data and products. When a user selects data, the systems checks for any advisories relevant to the data selected and attaches them to the output.

Other Stuff

Participated in the EPA data summit work shopParticipated in EPA’s DSS system assessment conducted by Ross and AssociatesParticipating in the GEO/GEOSS Architecture Pilot to increase interoperability with other air quality data systems

end

VIEWS’ Purpose

VIEWS to be a source of the most relevant, up to date and quality assured air quality data for visibility and other applications

– Link air quality monitoring data, emissions data, modeling results to support environmental science, planning and regulations

Leveraging VIEWS infrastructure and tools– WRAP Technical Support System (TSS)– Fire Emission Tracking System (FETS)– Addition of EPA ozone data– NASA ROSES projects

Improving an Air Quality Decision Support System through the Integration of Satellite Data

with Ground-based, Modeled, and Emissions Data

Uma ShankarShawn McClure – Provided Slides

Ana Prados

NASA ROSES 2007:Decision Support through Earth Science Research Results

Overall Project GoalTo enhance and add value to a currently operational air quality decision support system (VIEWS/TSS) by integrating and utilizing satellite data from NASA satellites Aura, Terra, Aqua, and CALIPSO.

Specific Project Goals• Develop routine capture, analysis, and processing algorithms with high temporal andspatial resolution to provide land use/land cover data as inputs to emissions and airquality modeling

• Obtain multiple-dimensional vertical profiles and column measurements of pollutantsto improve model inputs and provide evaluation data for gridded chemistry-transportmodels such as CMAQ

• Visualize and analyze satellite data in combination with existing monitoring, emissions,and modeling data within a unified decision support platform

• Develop mode evaluation tools using remote sensing data

Activities So Far•Conducted a project design workshop (May 12-13, 2008 - CIRA)

Discussed and refined project scopeCreated a project steering committee composed of end user representatives

•Created a “wiki” website for project communications anddocument-sharing

http://vista.cira.colostate.edu/AirDataWiki/ROSES2007.ashx

•Participated in the EPA’s Air Quality Data Summit (February2008, RTP)

Presented an overview of the VIEWS/TSS decision support systemExplored parallel efforts being conducted by other organizationsSuggested best practices for air quality data exchange and decision support

•Attended the GEOSS Architecture Implementation Workshop(NCAR)

Presented an overview of VIEWS/TSS and the NASA ROSES projectDetermined the GEOSS architectural standards to be implemented for future interoperabilitywith other air quality data- and decision-support systems

•Investigated the available and relevant satellite data and productsto be integrated into VIEWS/TSS

Next Steps: Source Data Acquisition

NASA ROSES 2008 Proposals

Collaborator to the investigation of 2008 NASA ROSES proposals

• Collocate AERONET instruments at three IMPROVE monitoring sites

• AErosol RObotic NETwork is a network of sun photometers which measures atmospheric aerosol properties including spectral aerosol optical depth (AOD)

• Evaluate the suitability of using AERONET data as a surrogate for surface level haze and particulate concentrations to improve spatial and temporal patterns of aerosol concentrations.

• Exceptional Event Analysis (Husar)

• Adding data from the global chemical transport model NAAPS to VIEWS/TSS (Westphal)

Additions – Data Continued

IMPROVE Data Archive– Historical data can be revised once a year in January.– Prior to making these changes, the entire IMPROVE data

set is archived and differences between each years archive is noted.

• The first archive will be for the 1988 – 04 data which includes the Oct 2005 resubmission of 2000-04 data

– RHR Data in the baseline period (2000 – 2004) is frozen– RHR Data from 2005 onward will continue to be revised

Adding an index describing IMPROVE and other data sets– IMPROVE has 7 different datasets:

• Raw, Preliminary, RHR1, RHR2, Substituted, Nephelometer, transmissometer

Coming year activitiesUpgrade integrated database, incorporating emission and modeling data and aggregated data– Unify all databases in VIEWS/TSS

Create a Data Set Index page to unify and organize data descriptions and access to all VIEWS datasets– Query wizard content, ASCII files, Substituted data,

archived data, data repository, natural conditions……..Upgraded tools based on developments from TSSContinued maintenance and addition of routine productsEnhancements to the visibility and air quality educational tools (Winchester, Malm, Lemke)

IMPROVE Website ActivitiesPast year activities– Additions

• Data, documents and analyses• CIRA and UCD QA/QC reports and data advisories• Air Quality in Sequoia Kings Canyon Tutorial• Special study - Yosemite Aerosol Characterization Study (YACS)

– Upgraded integrated database, analysis and display tools in the VIEWS project

Coming year activities– Upgrade integrated database, incorporating emission and

modeling data and aggregated data– Upgraded tools based on developments from TSS– Continued maintenance and addition of routine products– Enhancements to the visibility and air quality educational

tools (Winchester, Malm, Lemke)– Add a VIEWS dataset Index to unify and organize data

descriptions and access to all VIEWS datasets

VIEWS updates: 2006

Addition of RHR datasets– UCD 2000 -2004 resubmission, old and new IMPROVE

algorithm, state substitute datasets

Best and worst 20% bext flags on daily data– Annual summary composition page and Query wizard

Figure captions on trends and composition pages – reduce all queried database dimensions to descriptive text

Generated natural condition estimates using NIA and revised statistical approach– Addressed deficiencies in old default approach– Glide slopes by dv and aerosol species– NIA values addition to VIEWS forthcoming

Major revisions to Annual summary GUI– List or map based site selection– System & user defined presets– Dynamic parameter sorting option on composition page– Component architecture: charts, control panel, & map

component are reused in other pages (e.g. in the WRAP TSS)

Substitute data

Substitute data complete baseline record at problem sites (sites with less than 3 years of baseline data).Data added to VIEWS at request of CENRAP. Submissions for VISTAS and WRAP pending.Allow calculation of natural conditions based on longer ‘substitute’ data recordSubstitute dataset descriptions are on the VIEWS Documents page– List of problem sites (12 all together under current protocols)– Explanation of identified issues at BOWA, MING, BRET– Data retrieval and submission descriptions

Substitute data are NOT patched data– Substitute data use surrogates to estimate aerosol species

concentrations. Methods adopted by States and submitted for review by Monitoring and Data Analysis Workgroup

– Patched data are derived following specific patching algorithms specified in the RHR Tracking Progress document.

Substitute data and products are available from the VIEWS Annual Summary Trends and Composition Pages