Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application IX


Book Description

The interest in air pollution modelling has shown substantial growth over the last five years. This was particularly evident by the increasing number of participants attending the NATO/CCMS International Technical Meetings on Air Pollution modelling and its Application. At the last meeting 118 papers and posters were selected from an abundance of submitted abstracts divided over five modelling topics: (i) model assessment and verification, including policy applications, (ii) air pollution modelling in coastal areas with emphasis on the mediterranean region, (iii) accidental atmospheric releases, including warning systems and regulations, (iv) modelling of global and long-range transport and (v) new developments in turbulent diffusion. A round-table discussion chaired by John Irwin (USA) and Jan Kretzschmar (Belgium) on the harmonization of air pollution models was attended by more than 50 scientists and is reported in these proceedings. The opening paper addressed the main issue of this conference: modelling over complex terrain. Of particular interest were coastal areas where the surface inhomogeneities introduce small-scale circulation and varying atmospheric stability, often combined with a complex topography. As the conference was located on the beautiful island of Crete, problems faced by the host nation, particularly Athens and its environs were obvious examples for consideration. These together with other regions with similar geographical features were addressed. Heavily populated and industrialized as they often are, air quality is generally poor there and emission regulations are desired. Obviously, a major task of air pollution dispersion modelling is to assist policy makers in formulating sensible regulations.




Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application X


Book Description

The 20th International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modelling and Its Application was held in Valencia, Spain, during late 1993. At this conference, a new record of abstracts was submitted, a new record of scientists participated, and a new record of countries was represented. This clearly indicates society's continuous and growing interest in, as well as importance of, the complexities associated with the modelling of air pollution. The conference addressed the following main subjects: integrated regional modelling, global and long-range transport, new modelling developments, accidental releases, and model assess ment and verification. In addition, two project-oriented workshops were organized as part of the conference. The many contributing authors and scientists taking active part in the discussions following the papers, have made this proceeding a record of the current status in the field of air pollu tion modelling. We want to express our gratitude to their efforts. We also wish to extend our gratitude to the sponsors that made this conference possible. In addition to financial support from NATOjCCMS the conference received contributions from CEAM, the European Asso ciation for the Science of Air Pollution, Danish Center for Air Research, and Ris0 National Laboratory. A special grant was given by NATOjCCMS to facilitate attendance of scientists from Central and Eastern Europe. We also wish to express our gratitude to Rosa Salvador and Pilar Zamora of CEAM, who laboriously organized the conference pre-proceedings, and to Anne N0rregaard and Ulla Riis Christiansen of Ris0 National Laboratory, who seved as conference secretariat.




Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application VIII


Book Description

In 1949, when the North Atlantic Treaty was ratified, one of its articles explicitly noted '1hat member countries should contribute towards the further development of peaceful and friendly international relations." Specific problems related to the human environment were addressed by the Committee of Challenges of Modern Society (CCMS) of NATO, established in 1969. This provided a framework within which a series of International Technical Meetings (ITMs) on Air Pollution Modelling has been held. This volume documents the proceedings of the 18th meeting in this series. Science, like the arts and sports, provides an ideal vehicle for "developing peaceful and friendly international relations". National boundaries have never been barriers to the movement of air pollution, and fortunately this has also proved true of scientists studying the transport of air pollution. It is thus satisfying to record that since the mid-seventies it has been commonplace to find Eastern European scientists among attendees at the ITMs which have (in a very modest way) participated in a precursor to the process which has led to historical changes in Europe and which will undoubtedly lead to a tremendous increase in personal and intellectual exchange on a worldwide basis.




Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application XII


Book Description

Proceedings of the Twenty-Second NATO/CCMS International Technical Meeting held in Clermont-Ferrand, France, June 2-6, 1997




Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application VII


Book Description

Air pollution remains a major environmental issue despite many years of study and much legislative control. In rec~nt times, pollution on a global scale has become of particular concern. The gradually changing con centration of trace gases in the global troposphere due to man's activity is becomming a matter of serious concern. No scientist would dare to pre dict in detail the consequences of this gradual change due to its immense complexity involving social and economic factors and near countless chemical and phjsical cycles in our biosphere. In this chain of processes, the transport of pollution is an important factor, but only a factor. Therefore, I would like to emphasize that the mOdelling of atmospheric transport is becoming more and more an activity which fits into larger frameworks and can no longer be exercised as a single step, which bridges the gap between emissions and policy measures. This is also reflected in the topics and papers which were presented at this conference. The topics were: - emission invetories for and source treatment in air pollution dispersion models; - modelling of accidental releases; - regional and global scale dispersion mOdelling; including boundary layer-free troposphere exchange processes and subgrid scale parameter isations; - model verification and policy implications; - new developments in dispersion modelling and theory. 56 papers were presented in these sections. While many posters were dis cussed in a special session.




Air Pollution Modeling and its Application XV


Book Description

This volume contains the papers and poster abstracts presented at the 25th NATO/CCMS International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modelling and Its Application held in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, during 15-19 October 2001. This ITM was jointly organized by the University of Aveiro, Portugal (Pilot country) and by the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium (host country). The main topics of this ITM were : Role of Atmospheric Models in Air Pollution Policy and Abatement Strategies; Integrated Regional Modelling; Global and Long-Range Transport; Regional Air Pollution and Climate; New Developments; and Model Assessment and Verification. Invited papers were presented by A. Ebel of Germany (Changing atmospheric environment, changing views); H. ApSimon of Great Britain (Applying risk assessment techniques to air pollution modelling & abatement strategies); and S.E. Gryning of Denmark (Aspects of meteorological pre-processing of fluxes over inhomogeneous terrain) - all of which are included in this comprehensive proceedings volume.




Air Pollution Modeling and its Application XIV


Book Description

Proceedings of the Millennium NATO/CCMS International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modeling and its Application, held May 15-19 in Boulder, Colorado. This volume is the latest in a series of proceedings dating back to 1971. The book addresses the problem of air pollution and reports the latest findings and developments in air pollution modeling, from a truly international list of contributors.




Dioxin Perspectives


Book Description

Erich W. Bretthauer, Chairman of the Exposure and Hazard Assessment Working Group U. s. Environmental Protection Agency Washington, D. C. The efforts of the Exposure and Hazard Assessment Working Group were focused on the exchange of information on a variety of topics including research projects, regulations/statutes, analytical laboratories, and methods of exposure/risk assessment involving CDDs and CDFs. It was evident to the leaders of the Working Group that several of the knowledge voids had to be addressed on a fundamental level before expanded efforts could be made. Several questions needed to be answered: • Who has done research on this topic, and what do the data indicate? • Who is performing research now, and what are their capabilities? • How are other nations addressing this problem, and do they have legislative mandates in place? • Is there a general consensus on the topic? The members of the Working Group believed that these questions could be answered by surveying the major participants in the field of interest. Three principal survey efforts were performed by the Working Group, which collected information on research, regulations/statutes, and analytical laboratories from each of the participating nations. In addition to answering these fundamental questions, these efforts also fulfilled the major objectives of the entire Pilot Study. The collection, analysis, and distribution of information on research projects, regulations/statutes, and analytical laboratories were very useful efforts in helping to fill some of the basic knowledge voids.




Risk Management of Chemicals in the Environment


Book Description

The Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) established the "Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society" (CCMS) in 1969. The CCMS was charged with developing meaningful environmental and social programmes for solving existing problems and developing long-range goals for environmental protection. In 1983, at the Fall Plenary of the CCMS, the Norwegian delegate Dr. H.C. Christensen, proposed a Pilot Study on "Risk Management of Chemicals in the Environment". A draft proposal, written by Dr. Kari Kveseth of the Center for Industrial Research in Oslo, was presented. Dr. Christensen also informed the participants at the meeting that Norway was willing to act as the Pilot Country. The project was initially planned for 3 years, but it was later extended through 1987. The inaugural meeting was held in Oslo in April 1984 with participants from Denmark, Greece, France and Italy, in addition to representatives from several Norwegian institutions. The attendees concluded that a Pilot Study, as delineated in the draft proposal, would be useful, and it was decided to work out a detailed project plan based on the proposal.




Health and Medical Aspects of Disaster Preparedness


Book Description

The study of Health and Medical Aspects of Disaster Preparedness was approved by NATO/CCMS in 1985 with the first pilot study meeting in June of that year. The pilot study, under the leadership of the United States and Belgium, focused on the current status of disaster preparedness in partici pating nations. An objective look was taken at the availability or resources to cope with disasters from an international standpoint. The types of disaster settings that were reviewed in the study included the following: (1) Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, avalanches (2) Nuclear power plant accidents or spills (3) Water and aircraft accidents (4) Building fires, building collapses (5) Contamination by hazardous chemicals or biological waste (6) Civil disturbances A disaster can strike anywhere at any time. Some nations and local communities have well-developed disaster plans with which to meet catastrophic situations. The fact is that most communities are without written and coordinated disaster plans which offer their citizens the most effective and comprehensive protection in these unexpected and often critical situations. Disaster has been defined as a sudden event which involves large numbers of people and results in loss of life, serious injury and property loss. together with a severe disruption of community organization and services. In the United States, thousands of people are killed and injured in disasters every year. Thus, disasters constitute a serious problem in both individual and public health terms in this country alone. Disasters can be classified as natural and man-made.