Volpe Center Air Quality Facility
Volpe Air Quality provides services to clients requiring technical assistance with highly-specialized transportation-related air quality issues.
Please visit How to Start Work to learn more about working with the Volpe Center.
Project Plan: System for Assessing Aviation's Global Emissions
Sponsor: FAA, Office of Environment and Energy (AEE)
- Design, develop, implement, test and document the SAGE computer model for predicting global fuel burn and emissions from commercial aviation.
- Develop global fuel burn and emission inventories for 2000, 2001, 2002, etc.
- Validate and enhance the SAGE model as deemed necessary.
- Conduct analyses with the SAGE model to support policy-related fuel burn and emissions decisions.
Project Plan: Local Air Quality
Sponsor: FAA, Office of Environment and Energy (AEE)
- Validate and enhance the AERMOD dispersion algorithms within FAA's Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS).
- Conduct field studies, as necessary, to support of the validation and enhancement of AERMOD, as implemented into EDMS.
- Update and enhance the aircraft performance model within EDMS.
- Conduct research into alternative methods for quantifying particulate matter emissions from commercial aircraft.
- Design, develop, implement, test and document a screening model for assessing local air quality.
Project Plan: Technical Noise and Air Quality Support to Air Tour Management Plans (ATMP)
Sponsor: FAA, Western Pacific Region,
Air Tour Management Plans (ATMP)
- Collect aircraft activity data, including operations, flight tracks and schedule.
- Reduce and analyze the data collected and prepare for input to noise and air quality models.
- Prepare and review environmental documentation, as required.
Project Plan: Alternative Transportation in the National Parks
Sponsors: FHWA, Federal Lands Highway Core Business Unit
- Conduct vehicle inventories in three national parks.
- Characterize typical visitor routings within these national parks.
- Model emission inventories using existing prediction tools.
- Utilize alternative approaches to quantify the effects of typical visitor routings, as opposed to default routings used in most models.
- Conduct noise measurements of alternative transportation vehicles utilized in the parks.
Project Plan: Oklahoma City Dispersion Study
Sponsor: TSWG, Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Countermeasures (CBRN)
- Collect bag samples of SF6 tracer gas, along with related information.
- Reduce and analyze the concentrations data collected and prepare for input to dispersion models.
- Validate existing dispersion models using collected data, and make recommendations on improving those models.
Project Plan: Asbestos Road Study
Sponsor: CA DTSC
- Collect air samples adjacent to a roadway.
- Analyze the samples and quantify asbestos concentrations.
- Make recommendations on the need for a follow-up study and/or remediation program.
