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    <copyright>Copyright © 2026. National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.</copyright>
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    <managingEditor>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</managingEditor>
    <webMaster>tris-trb@nas.edu (Bill McLeod)</webMaster>
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      <title>Comparative Assessment of AERMOD v24142 with MOVES 5.0: Source Type Performance and Dispersion Model Sensitivity</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/2720326</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released AERMOD v24142, the latest iteration of its regulatory dispersion model, alongside their updated MOVES5.0 fuel consumption and exhaust rate model. In prior research conducted by this NCST team for FHWA (using MOVES 2014b and AERMOD v19191), significant discrepancies in predicted concentrations were identified across various source type configurations (specifically AREAPOLY, VOLUME, LINE, RLINE, and RLINEXT) under identical conditions. This previous study suggested that AERMOD effectively integrated three separate models, depending on the source type employed, with VOLUME sources notably underpredicting concentrations at low wind speeds compared to RLINE (impacted by the MEANDER settings). This project will re-assess the source type relationships using the updated modeling framework. The research team will utilize the MOVES-Matrix 5.0 and the Partnership for an Advanced Computing Environment (PACE) supercomputing clusters at Georgia Tech to process massive iterations of source-receptor pairs for the I-75/I-575 Northwest Corridor (NWC) case study. The primary objective is to assess if the algorithmic updates in AERMOD v24142 have harmonized the output differences between source types observed in previous versions. The project involves two primary thrusts: 1) A direct comparison of the new modeling results (MOVES5.0/AERMOD v24142) against the team’s prior baseline (MOVES 2014b/AERMOD v19191) to quantify how regulatory updates alter predicted concentration magnitudes and spatial patterns; and 2) a targeted sensitivity analysis using dense, 3-dimensional receptor grids. This condensed sensitivity task will validate vertical and horizontal dispersion profiles to ensure that specific source configurations (e.g., RLINEXT with noise barriers) properly reflect plume behavior near complex infrastructure.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Wed, 01 Jul 2026 16:22:08 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/2720326</guid>
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      <title>FHWA Air quality &amp; Noise programs</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1907203</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this Environmental Protection Agency-Federal Highway Administration (EPA-FHWA) collaboration covering the period of June 2020 through June 2023 is to assess whether the current dispersion models can be improved for predicting near road air quality and identify appropriate enhancements. The assessment of the various features and input specifications will ultimately promote any beneficial modifications to advance the state of the science in near road dispersion modeling. Specifically, the research activity will be used to address the following goals: First, advance the capability of the beta RLINE source type to make consistent with the requirements for inclusion as a regulatory model by additional evaluation of the URBAN option when used with RLINE through the conduct of source configuration testing, among others to advance the URBAN as a beta option for RLINE. Second, through research into the implications of barriers to improve near road air quality analysis.  
]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 01 Feb 2022 12:06:58 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1907203</guid>
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      <title>Evaluate Capabilities of Air Quality Dispersion
</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1758947</link>
      <description><![CDATA[The objective of this Environmental Protection Agency-Federal Highway Administration (EPA-FHWA) collaboration is to assess whether the current dispersion models can be improved for predicting near road air quality and identify appropriate enhancements. The assessment of the various features and input specifications will ultimately promote any beneficial modifications to advance the state of the science in near road dispersion modeling. ]]></description>
      <pubDate>Tue, 22 Dec 2020 16:24:15 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1758947</guid>
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    <item>
      <title>Assessment of Regulatory Air Pollution Dispersion Models to Quantify the Impacts of Transportation Sector Emissions</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1467499</link>
      <description><![CDATA[State departments of transportation (DOTs) conduct project-level air quality analyses to conform to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and meet transportation conformity rule requirements where applicable.  DOTs are interested in a rigorous and systematic model review and update process for regulatory dispersion models for the transportation sector to ensure that the models generate credible results.

In this context, the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP) Report 71, Guidance for Quantifying the Contribution of Airport Emissions to Local Air Quality, provides information on modeling assessments and is a helpful reference.  Another key reference is the 2007 National Research Council (NRC) report, Models in Environmental Regulatory Decision-Making, which called for consideration of multiple criteria for model assessments.

Building on ACRP Report 71, the 2007 NRC report, and other studies, DOTs would benefit from additional research that comprehensively examines project-level air quality dispersion models and assesses their respective strengths and weakness.

The objective of this research is to produce a technical report for decision makers to identify the appropriate air quality dispersion models for regulatory applications in the transportation sector.  The technical report should: (1) specify procedures to test air quality dispersion models using real-world air quality data (which must include data from tracer studies) for regulatory applications in the transportation sector for criteria pollutants typically assessed in project level analysis; (2) apply these procedures to conduct detailed evaluation of the selected models against air quality field data; (3) based on the results of the analyses, evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of dispersion models for specific transportation regulatory applications for each pollutant; (4) present comparative analyses (including technical and methodological evaluations) to provide insights into why a particular model is the best performing model for those specific transportation applications; and (5) make recommendations for model improvements based on the model assessments and comparative analyses.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Fri, 19 May 2017 08:58:18 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1467499</guid>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Impact of Polymer Modification on Mechanical and Viscoelastic Properties</title>
      <link>https://rip.trb.org/View/1357220</link>
      <description><![CDATA[Polymer modified binders are now extensively used in the asphalt industry. However, it is still not well understood how the polymers and the base binders interlock and whether the degree of interlocking impacts performance of polymer modified binders. The research has shown that low non-recoverable compliance values in the Multiple Stress Creep and Recovery test at 64 C appear to show significantly low rutting performance in the laboratory based on the flow time test. However, most of these tests were done on modified binders that were provided by the refinery whose precise formulations are unknown. There is a need to measure the properties of binders with known modification to determine the influence of polymers on the mechanical properties of the binders. Investigation of the morphology is necessary because the properties change when polymer networks are formed. When a sufficient amount of polymer networks have been formed the polymers are considered to be full interlocking with the binder. Because the dispersion of polymer in an asphalt binder depends on factors such as blending time, temperature, and base compatibility, fluorescence microscopy can be used to monitor the dispersion to ensure that polymer networking is occurring. With the recent acquiring of the fluorescent microscope at Rowan University, it has provided the project with the capability to directly determine if there has been adequate interlocking between the base binder and the polymer and subsequently determine how a given polymer or combination of polymers impact binder and mix performance.]]></description>
      <pubDate>Thu, 11 Jun 2015 01:01:22 GMT</pubDate>
      <guid>https://rip.trb.org/View/1357220</guid>
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