3 December 2009
On December 2-3, the ESRL Chemical Sciences Division is hosting the International Workshop on Air Quality Forecasting Research. The goal of the workshop is to provide a venue for the discussion of science issues and advancements related to air quality forecasting. Workshop objectives include improving operational air quality forecasts, promoting collaborations among air quality forecasting researchers and practitioners, and nurturing an international air quality forecasting community.
The 2009 workshop is the first of an anticipated annual series of meetings. The NOAA and Environment Canada's Meteorological Service (EC) will sponsor the first two workshops.
The target audience of the workshop includes:
CSD Deputy Director Jim Meagher and NWS scientist Paula Davidson are on the Organizing Committee for the workshop, and Greg Frost (CIRES and CSD) is the Workshop Coordinator.
Over 100 scientists are attending the workshop, representing a diverse array of organizations including U.S. scientists from NOAA, NASA, DOE, EPA, NPS, NCAR, and academia, as well as international scientists from Canada, France, Germany, Korea, Belgium, Japan, and the United Kingdom.
Significance: Air quality forecasting helps to protect the public from the harmful effects of poor air quality, which annually causes tens of thousands of premature deaths and billions of dollars in losses and additional costs. People in 48 states now have NOAA's detailed information updated twice each day on when, where and to what degree poor air quality is predicted, so can take actions to limit harmful effects. Also, state and local air management agencies use NOAA's ozone predictions to inform some 300 communities across the nation with next-day easy-to-use indexed health alerts. Hospital admissions rates are lower for those who have this information (e.g., reducing children's emergency room visits for asthma by roughly 5%).
The workshop contributes to the objectives of the Air Quality Program in NOAA's Weather and Water Goal.