14 May 2019Spring 2019 editions of ADMS Model Newsletters now available

Catch up on ADMS model news in the Spring 2019 editions of ADMS 5 & ADMS-Screen News and ADMS-Urban & ADMS-Roads News which are now available. The newsletters are published approximately twice a year and include the latest news about the ADMS models, the annual User Group Meetings, CERC activities, training courses and recently published papers as well as a page of useful modelling tips. Previous editions of the newsletters are available here.

13 May 2019EFT 9.0 in ADMS-Roads and ADMS-Urban

The UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the Devolved Administrations have released version 9.0 of the Emissions Factors Toolkit (EFT). Details of the updates in this new version are given on page 5 of the EFT user guide.

We are currently incorporating the new data into ADMS-Roads, ADMS-Urban and ADMS-Airport. We anticipate releasing a patch to version 4.1 of these models in June, which will allow use of EFT 9.0 emissions factors.

The new version of EFT includes the effect of loading and gradients on Heavy Duty Vehicles. These features will be made available in version 5, which will be released later this summer.

30 Apr 20192019 ADMS User Group Meetings to be held in Oxford, 13-14 November

We are pleased to announce that the 2019 User Group Meetings will be held at St Anne's College, Oxford on the 13^th and 14^th of November.

• ADMS 5 User Group Meeting: Wednesday 13^th November
• ADMS-Urban and ADMS-Roads User Group Meeting: Thursday 14^th November

These meetings will include the usual mix of presentations by CERC staff and software users and are the ideal opportunity to hear the latest news and advice on new model features. Users with a valid support contract are entitled to a number of free or reduced-rate delegate places depending on the type of licence held. Please contact CERC if there is a topic you would like to be covered at one of the meetings or if you would like to give a 'user view' presentation. More details will be published later in the year; registration will open online in the summer.

10 Apr 2019London air quality: modelling Brent's proposed new Energy Centre

The CERC consultancy team investigated the air quality impact of a proposed Energy Centre, comprising boiler and CHP plant, in the London Borough of Brent.

Brent Council is procuring a district energy network as part of their South Kilburn regeneration project. The associated Energy Centre will include four boilers and up to two CHP units. Two new apartment buildings will be built close to the Energy Centre stack, one of 14 storeys and the other 8 storeys. Emissions from the Energy Centre stack have the potential to impact on the facades of these buildings. The Energy Centre and apartment buildings are located within an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) declared by Brent Council for 24-hour average particulate (PM₁₀) and annual average NO₂ concentrations.

ADMS 5 was used to carry out dispersion modelling of emissions of nitrogen oxides from the flues. Concentrations of NO₂ were calculated on a high-resolution grid centred on the Energy Centre, as well as at the facades of the nearby apartment buildings.

The Environmental Protection UK and Institute of Air Quality Management's Land Use Planning & Development Control: Planning for Air Quality was used to assess the significance of the air quality impacts of the Energy Centre emissions at locations relevant for public exposure. At ground level receptors, the modelled impacts are classified as Negligible; at elevated receptors, the modelled impacts are classified as Slight.

20 Mar 2019Air Pollution Monitoring and Early Warning Platform for Guangdong

China's Pearl River Delta agglomeration in Guangdong is the largest urban area in the world. Despite significant regional investment into improving the environment, the magnitude of the problems faced frequently results in hazardous air pollution levels being reached.

A new project bringing together UK and Chinese air quality experts will, for the first time in Guangdong, forecast air quality at very high (street level) resolution and disseminate both real time and forecast air quality together with high pollution alerts via an integrated smart platform. The project couples the WRF/CMAQ regional models with the state-of-the-art ADMS-Urban local model. The project will enable the development and testing of air pollution control strategies both for short-term episodes and for longer term improvement of the air quality. The system will be tested and optimised using reference air quality monitors already in place and additional innovative low cost, small sensors deployed by the project.

This 24 month project is led by CERC and Guangzhou HKUST FYTRI Research Institute, and is funded by Innovate UK and the Guangdong Science and Technology Department. The team are working with local stakeholders such as Environmental Monitoring Centers, businesses and universities to ensure the project benefits policymakers, urban planners and the residents of Guangdong.