Department
of
Meteorology
Special
Announcement
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Meteorology 497A
Air Quality Forecasting
Spring
Semester 2005
3 credits
Time: Tues. & Thurs., 1:00 - 2:15 PM
Instructor:
Bill Ryan
Contact:
wfr1@psu.edu or
5-9025
Purpose and Content
The
number of state and local governments issuing air quality forecasts has
increased significantly over the past 5 years (see, http://www.epa.gov/airnow)
with more than 300 locations now issuing routine daily air quality forecasts.
During the past two years, improvements in coupled chemistry-meteorology
models have resulted in operational numerical air quality forecast models
becoming available to the forecast community (see link at bottom)
This new course will be directed at training meteorologists in the field of air quality forecasting. The course will include a basic description of the chemistry of smog (no Chemistry prerequisite required), the interaction of weather and pollution, and an in depth analysis of the new NOAA numerical air quality forecast model and its components. The structure of the course will be similar to METO 415 in that practical understanding and forecast skill will be the primary focus. Students will be expected to give regular weather briefings, prepare short papers or presentations on specific topics related to air quality, and take occasional short quizzes.