- Principal Investigator:
- Dr. Erik Crosman, University of Utah,
- Christopher Foster (yurralacelle112@gmail.com), University of Utah
- DAQ Contact: Chris Pennell (cpennell@utah.gov)
Following the completion of the Winter Modeling Improvements study funded by DAQ with the original legislative research funding, DAQ contracted with the same research group for a targeted modeling project. The purpose of this was to model three past inversion episodes using the model improvements that resulted from the original study. The study was completed over a brief six month time frame with excellent results and a direct application to the technical work requirements of the PM2.5 State Implementation Plan (SIP).
Guidance for the use of photochemical models in SIP demonstrations recommends that episodes be chosen that incorporate a variety of meteorological conditions during pollution events. As a means to selecting the most appropriate episode to use in the air quality model, atmospheric scientists at the University of Utah provided DAQ with modeled data sets for episodes during the winters of 2011, 2013 and 2016. Air quality modelers at DAQ are currently evaluating the performance of the air quality model using each of the three episodes and will choose, after consultation with the regional modeler at EPA, the most appropriate episode to use for the upcoming SIP.