Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS)
The Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS) was developed in the mid-1980s as a complex source microcomputer model designed to assess the air quality impacts of proposed airport development projects.
What is EDMS Designed to Do?
The Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS) is designed to:
Assess the air quality impacts of airport emission sources, particularly aviation sources, which consist of:
- Aircraft
- Auxiliary power units
- Ground support equipment
- Ground access vehicles
- Stationary sources
EDMS is one of the few air quality assessment tools specifically engineered for the aviation community. It includes:
- Emissions and dispersion calculations
- The latest aircraft engine emission factors from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Engine Exhaust Emissions Data Bank
- Vehicle emission factors from the latest version of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) MOBILE6 model
- EPA-validated dispersion algorithms
- Emissions data for criteria pollutants and speciated HCs (44 HAPs and 351 non-toxic compounds).
FAA Required Model
In 1998, FAA revised its policy on air quality modeling procedures to identify EDMS as the Required Model (PDF) to perform air quality analyses for aviation sources instead of the preferred model. This revised policy ensures the consistency and quality of aviation analyses performed for FAA. The FAA continues to enhance the model under the guidance of its government/industry advisory board to more effectively determine emission levels and concentrations generated by typical airport emission sources.
EDMS 5.1 (September 2008)
EDMS 5.1 contains bug fixes and minor improvements over EDMS 5.0, EDMS 5.0.1, and EDMS5.0.2 and represents a significant improvement in capabilities and functionality over the EDMS 4.x series. Here is a short list of the major improvements made in the EDMS 5.1 series:
Study & Overall Modeling Improvements
New functionalities have been added to EDMS5.1 including the ability to:
- Calculate individual speciated hydrocarbons (HC), including known hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) for all airport emission sources,
- Calculate total organic gases (TOG) for all airport emission sources,
- Estimate carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for aircraft only,
- Export emissions inventory results into a semi-colon delimited text file for analytical use in spreadsheet programs.
- Estimate particulate matter (PM) emissions from Auxiliary Power Units (APUs)
In addition to the new functionalities, the following major updates are discussed more in detail below and in the EDMS5.1 User's Manual:
- Aircraft PM emissions are estimated only for aircraft with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) certified engines,
- Revised FOA3 (for non-US airports) and FOA3a (for US airports) methodologies are harmonized to predict the non-volatile portion of PM emissions more accurately based on the engine type: turbofan (TF) versus internally-mixed turbofan (MTF),
- To derive sulfur-driven volatile PM emissions from aircraft, default values for fuel sulfur content (FSC) and the sulfur-to-sulfate conversion rate have been adjusted to reflect the latest science for application in the FOA3 methodology for non-US airports only, as recommended by the ICAO. Users still have the flexibility to change these default values to suit their study-specific data,
- Default values for FSC and the sulfur-to-sulfate conversion rate have been fixed for US airports only, as recommended by the EPA.
- Updated equation to derive the SOx emission index for aircraft based upon the sulfur balance between sulfur-driven volatile PM emissions and SOx gaseous emissions,
- Revised HC emission estimates upon engine startup for aircraft with ICAO-certified engines only, as recommended by ICAO.
- 40 new aircraft have been added,
- 63 new engines have been added, and
- 5 new APUs have been added.
Saving Study
- Similar to other Windows applications, the EDMS 5.1 user must explicitly “save” the study to disk. This will allow the user to revert to the last saved version, if an error is made during data entry. However, updating the emissions inventory will automatically save the study data upon completion of the emission calculations.
This release includes:
- User manual (PDF, 2.82 MB)
- User manual appendix (PDF, 1.87 MB)
- EDMS 5.1 Release Notes (PDF, 90 KB)
Instructions for upgrading from EDMS 5.0x to EDMS 5.1:
- If you already have EDMS 5.0 or EDMS 5.0.1 or EDMS 5.0.2, download the update to EDMS 5.1 here 5.0.x-5.1 (EXE), and download the documentation files above.
- You do not need to apply for the BADA license again.
- Send the completed EDMS order form (PDF) to edms@cssiinc.com or call (202) 863-2175.
- Request a free license from EUROCONTROL
EDMS 5 uses the EUROCONTROL Base of Aircraft Data ("BADA") for aircraft performance modeling. In addition to completing the EDMS Order Form, the user must also obtain a free license directly from EUROCONTROL for use of BADA by visiting the following website:
http://badaext.eurocontrol.fr/license/license.php
Please follow these steps when completing the license agreement:- Complete the Licensee portion of the agreement to the best of your ability.
- Legal form of company refers to how the company is registered (e.g. non-profit, LLC, etc.)
- The registered office of which is at: (indicate where the company is registered)
- Complete the Requestee official credentials section
- You are requesting BADA 3.6
- Complete the intended use of BADA section
- Select “other” and enter: Purchase EDMS Model
- You must complete all of the fields in red regarding the project that requires the use of EDMS. Be sure to describe in detail the intended use of the software in more than just a few words. You cannot use EDMS for a comparative analysis of aircraft types, and must clearly state that you will not do this.
- (You probably learned about BADA through the EDMS web site.)
- Under description of use, indicate that BADA will be exercised exclusively through the EDMS model to support airport emissions calculations
- Do not complete the optional section on the BADA calculation tool, it is not needed by EDMS.
- Do not enter a machine name or username
- Check the box to indicate that you have read and understand the terms of the agreement
Please do NOT contact EUROCONTROL for the status of your order or BADA license.
-
Timing of EDMS Shipping
Upon submission of the BADA license request, EUROCONTROL will notify the FAA within two (2) working days that the request has been approved. Subsequently, CSSI Inc. will distribute the EDMS CD to the user without further notice via the delivery method selected by the user.
EDMS Technical Support Questions:
Technical support is available via phone, fax, and email:
- Phone: (202) 863-3683
- Fax: (202) 863-2398
- Email: Get EDMS Technical Support
Other EDMS questions should be directed to:
- Phone:(202) 267-3566
- Fax:(202) 267-5594
- Email:Request EDMS Information
EDMS 5 Weather Data Information
EDMS 5 generates input files for the powerful next-generation dispersion model developed by EPA, AERMOD. The AERMOD meteorological preprocessor, AERMET, requires a significant amount of weather data in order to accurately characterize the atmosphere. Surface data for each hour is required to determine the current wind direction, wind speed, temperature and cloud cover. In addition, twice-daily upper-air observations are required to properly determine the mixing height.
Ordering Weather Data
Weather data are available for a charge from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and for free from the EPA Support Center for Regulatory Air Models (SCRAM) and WebMET.
Surface Data
AERMET supports the following surface weather data formats. NOTE that weather data downloaded from the NCDC website are NOT compatible with AERMOD, so the NCDC data from CD-ROM must be used instead.
- TD-3280: Historical and recent data can be ordered from NCDC.
- TD-3505: Historical and recent data can be ordered from NCDC.
- CD-144: Current data are not available from NCDC. However, users that already have CD-144 data can use it with the AERMET algorithms included in EDMS 4.3.
- HUSWO: Historical and recent data can be ordered from NCDC.
- SCRAM: Historical data are available from EPA at SCRAM. Choose "Met Data" then "Surface Data." Data are also available from WebMET.
- SAMSOM: Recent data can be ordered from NCDC. Historical data are also available from WebMET.
Upper-Air Data
Currently, only the TD-6201 and FSL formats are supported for the required twice-daily upper-air soundings.
One of these soundings must occur in the early morning hours. Typically, these soundings occur at 00:00Z and 12:00Z, which does not provide a sounding at the necessary time for many users outside the United States. If a sounding is not available for your location, the Lakes Environmental Upper Air Estimator may be appropriate. Specific guidance regarding the AERMET data requirements are provided in the AERMET User’s Guide.
Previous Releases
5.0.2 (June 2007)
5.0.1 (March 2007)
5.0 (January 2007)
4.5 (June 2006)
4.4 (November 2005)
4.3 (August 2005)
4.21 (March 2005)
4.2 (September 2004)
4.12 (October 2003)
4.1GSE (October 2003)
4.11 (December 2002)
4.1 (October 2002)
4.0 (May 2001)
3.0 (1997)
