Cooperative Agreements
Arizona Department of Environmental Quality
The Intergovernmental Service Agreement in place with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality is considered by ADEQ as one of the most successful and exemplary models in the U.S. where academics, state agencies and stakeholders work together to spin up fundamental work to develop and improve environmental forecasting models and measurement systems. ADEQ expectations in this regard are regulatory in nature while ASU is expected to develop fundamental and applied knowledge to meet their needs. First signed in 2002 as a five year agreement, the collaboration between ASU and ADEQ has blossomed over the years and resulted in a number of collaborative projects. The agreement was extended in 2006 until 06/30/2011. At the beginning of a given fiscal year, ADEQ identifies some issues of critical importance for the environmental protection mission of the State of Arizona and works with researchers of the EFD Program at ASU to develop a work scope. Each separate project is assigned to a PI from the EFD program and is funded under a “daughter” account of the parent Intergovernmental Service Agreement. Some of the on-going projects include:
- Continued support for the ASU/ADEQ modeling center and cyber infrastructure development (Mr. Leonard Montenegro of ADEQ is assigned to the modeling center on a part-time basis)
- Development of an on-line fire permitting system for agricultural burning
- Tracking of PM Plumes using a Doppler Lidar
- PM episodes in the US-Mexico border
Some Pertinent Publications
- Lee, S.M., Fernando, H.J.S. and Grossman-Clarke
S. Modeling of Ozone Distribution in the State of Arizona in Support of 8-Hour Non-Attainment Area Boundary Designations, Environmental
Modeling and Prediction, In Press.- Choi, Y-J., Hyde, P. and Fernando, H.J.S.
“Modeling of episodic particular matter events using a 3-D air quality model with fine grid: Applications to a pair of cities in the U.S./Mexico border” Atmospheric Environment, 40, 5181-5201 2006)- Lee, S.M., Giori, W., Princevac, M. and Fernando, H.J.S.
“A New Turbulent Parameterization for the Nocturnal PBL Over Complex Terrain,” Boundary Layer Meteorology, DOI: 10.1007/s10546-005-9018-4, 2006.- Lee, S.-M. and Fernando, H.J.S.
“Evaluation of Mesoscale Meteorological Models, MM5 and HOTMAC, using PAFEX-1 Data,” Journal of Applied Meteorology, 43, 1133-1148, 2004
Arizona Department of Transportation
In April of 2003, ADOT received approval from the FHWA to allow the use of pavement surface type as a noise mitigation strategy, which was granted with the condition that Arizona would be a pilot program with specific research objectives and requirements. The research is intended to validate the efficacy of using Asphalt Rubber Friction Courses (ARFC) as a noise mitigation strategy. Over several years ADOT will overlay much of the Portland Cement Concrete Pavement (PCCP) in the valley with a one-inch thick ARFC surface. Where the ARFC is placed and noise walls are required, the walls will be reduced approximately 8 ft in height due to the use of the ARFC surfacing. ADOT, supported by a consultant, has begun to monitor four sites across the Phoenix Metropolitan area for traffic-generated noise over a ten-year period to evaluate the effectiveness of ARFC. Recent experiences, however, suggest that traditional noise abatement approaches (e.g. the use of walls) can be defeated by environmental conditions. Therefore, the ASU group was enlisted by ADOT to monitor environmental conditions that occur during acoustic monitoring, with the purpose of establishing actual environmental conditions at the time of acoustic monitoring and to determine any impacts on acoustic monitoring results. An Intergovernmental Service Agreement was signed between ADOT and ASU in 2004, and the first phase of funding begun in 2005. It was extended in 2006.
In the first (completed) environmental testing phase, the effects of winds on noise propagation were studied under neutral conditions. However, the effects of inversions have not been studied, although they are known to be important; and this is theme of the ongoing work.
Maricopa Association of Governments
An Intergovernmental Service Agreement was signed between ASU/EFD and MAG in November 2005 to conduct supporting work for Eight Hour Ozone modeling for MAG. This agreement is in place under the umbrella of the MAG Air Quality Technical Assistance On-Call Program. The work being conducted under this program consists of providing technical assistance for MM5, CMAQ/SMOKE simulations of ozone concentrations and providing improved models for such simulations. In addition, ASU group deployed a Doppler Lidar in the 2006 November experiment conducted by MAG and its consultants on Salt River Industrial Area PM10 study.
Ecole Navale, Ministère de la Défense, France
An Intergovernmental Agreement was entered into between ASU/CEFD and Ecole Navale, Ministère de la Défense, France, to permit two third year naval academy students to complete their final research project in CEFD. The students will be working on "Experimental and theoretical studies on the evolution and dynamics of large eddies" under the supervision of Professors Fernando and Voropayev.
Italian Agency for New Technologies for Environment and Energy
Korea Power and Electric Company