Air Dispersion Modeling to Identify Air Quality Impacts of Construction Projects

Sonoma Technology provided continued air quality modeling support to the BAAQMD to assist with the District’s regulatory needs. <br>

Sonoma Technology helped the District with project-level air quality impact assessments per the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which require the District to identify and mitigate the environmental impacts of their projects. Sonoma Technology developed dispersion modeling input parameters for several representative construction projects, ran the AERMOD dispersion model to quantify the air quality impacts of the representative projects, and developed screen criteria that help define what construction projects are not required to undertake detailed CEQA analysis. <br>

In addition, Sonoma Technology streamlined the development of AERMOD-ready meteorological inputs using AERMET, a meteorological data preprocessor. Sonoma Technology developed software to acquire and process National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) surface meteorological data sources, automated the processing of precipitation data from the Western Region Climate Center, and developed control AERMET file templates that can be leveraged in future BAAQMD projects.