# Presentation: 717517

## OverviewOFCM National Joint Urban Test Bed: Concept of Operations

- Walter D. Bach, Jr.
- Co-chair JAG / Joint Urban Test Beds
- GMU Conference on Atmospheric Transport Diffusion Modeling
- July 11, 2007

## Outline

- Definition
- Capabilities and Benefits
- Characteristics of Urban Scales
- Management Structure
- Infrastructure Requirements
- Selection Process
- Implementation Framework

## Definition

**Urban Test Bed**
-  A multifunctional infrastructure that provides multi-year continuous measurement and archival of environmental data, across a metropolitan area and through the atmospheric boundary layer, supporting improvements in a range of activities from scientific research to user applications.

## Capabilities and Benefits

- Long term, continuous, high resolution meteorological observations of urban domain
- Tools to use the data for public benefit
- Purpose - Enable use scientific knowledge to identify atmospheric role connecting incident to consequences affecting public interests and concerns.

## Improve National Capabilities

- Impacts on health due to weather and climate factors
- Air quality forecasts (PM, ozone, ...)
- Urban scale forecasting of severe weather, weather extremes (heat and cold), and other impacts on stakeholders (in terms of safety, economics, and operations)
- Dispersion forecasts for airborne contaminants
- Warnings for flash floods and other results of localized heavy rainfall
- Forecasts of water contamination due to deposition of airborne contaminants
- Urban scale climate predictions

## Improve National Capabilities

- Understanding the elements of urban ecosystems and how the elements interact
- Understanding socioeconomic impacts of weather and climate in urban areas
- Management and mitigation of risks associated with the environment in urban areas
- “Tailored” products for the many urban stakeholders, i.e. products that are compatible with the stakeholder’s decision-making process
- Protection of natural resources and ecosystems
- Managing wildland fires in the wildland/urban interface

## Ultimate Benefit to Stakeholders

- Save lives, resources, and infrastructure
- Healthier population
- More robust economy
- Protect critical ecosystems
- Improved risk management and mitigation

## Test Bed Concept

**Notes:**
Urban Stakeholders:
Water supply and sewage facilities  Electrical power industry   Fuel suppliers: natural gas, fuel oil, coal, gasoline
Transportation sectors – aviation, marine, and surface  Emergency management agencies and response organizations
Public safety agencies
Public health agencies  Hospitals and clinics  Insurance industry  
Construction industry  
Health care providers  Recreation facilities  Air quality agencies/boards/management districts
Water quality agencies   Water use commissions   
Forestry agencies (wildland fire)  Urban planners  Weather service providers  The General Public

## Characteristics of Urban Scales

**Characteristics of Urban Scales**

## Characteristics of Urban Scales

- IDEAL: Pre-urban to post urban influences; Measure wind (u,v,w), T, q through PBL; Dz = 10 m; Dt = 1 min;  Spacing ~ 3 -5 km; precip type, rate
- CURRENT CAPABILITY:  BL wind profiler (100m – 4km) (with RASS); Dz = 50 m; Dt = 15 min; Spacing ~ 1/city;  Precip variable; Sodar; Radar;
- USERS:  Air quality, Homeland Security, Transportation, Severe Storm (SS), County and City Gov’t (City Planners), Media, Agriculture, Public Safety, Public Health, Land Managers, Fire, Weather Enterprise, Industry; R&D for modeling, Quantify Uncertainty, Develop/Test parametric relationships
- Local  ~ 8 km radius
- IDEAL:  3 to 5 sub-areas inside Meso;  Flux & flux divergence (momentum, heat, water, radiation) subsurface through surface layer to ~ 300 m; Dz =5 to 10 m; >10 Hz sampling rates. Integrated roughness. Include >3 Meso sites per Local;  Co-locate with AQ instrumentation.
- CURRENT CAPABILITY:   10 to 30 m towers in special programs; Surface based obs networks.  Radar;
- USERS: R&D, Health, AQ, WQ, SS, Nowcasting; Emergency response;
- Micro ~ 1 km radius
- IDEAL:  3 to 5 sub-areas inside each Local; Flux & flux divergence at discontinuities inside of area. Roughness characterization.
- CURRENT CAPABILITY:  Specialized programs; Historical studies (Urban 2000; Joint Urban 2003).
- USERS: R&D, Emergency response

**Characteristics of Urban Scales**

## Atlanta Metro

**Meso Scale**
**~ 200 stations**

**Local Scale per circle**
**~ 4 stations**

**Micro Scale**
**~ 4 stations per circle**

## Management Structure

- National Executive
- National Operational
- Local Executive
- Local Operational

## Executive Management Structure

**Executive Management Structure**

**Measurement & **
**Instrumentation**

**Research**

**Modeling & **
**Simulation**

**Information**
**Management**

**User Needs**

**Operationalize**
**Results**

**Executive Staff**

**National Executive Board**
**Members**
**DHS,  NOAA, EPA**

**Local **
**Directors**

## Measurement & Instrumentation

- Establish a minimum set of standard measurements, density, and sampling frequency for each urban scale
- Establish system reliability standards
- Establish system accuracy standards
- Recommend types of systems that need to be developed

## Information Management

- Recommends acquisition, archiving, and distribution of JUTB data
- Provide basic guidelines for JUTB system architecture
- Provide basic guidelines for representation of products to multiple users, to include compatibility with GIS
- Provide data format standards and guidelines, to include meta-data
- Recommend linkages to and from other data sources
- Establish minimum standards for QA and QC of data
- Establish appropriate levels of data security and information assurance
- Establish standards for data availability during power and/or communications outages

## Research

- Identify national research requirements that are applicable to JUTBs
- Synchronize national research requirements with local JUTB research efforts
- Solicit and support research efforts applicable to the urban environment from appropriate agencies and institutions

## Modeling & Simulation

- Modeling: Includes diagnostic and prognostic environmental-related models
- Assess performance of existing models and model ensembles for different urban scales and applications
- Recommend existing models for use within specific JUTBs
- Recommend development of new models, or changes to existing models
- Recommend research initiatives to better simulate urban scales and meet user needs
- Recommend improved instrumentation and measurements

## User Needs

- Assess, approve, and prioritize user needs
- Showcase results that successfully address local user needs

## Operationalize Results

- Review JUTB results and recommend implementation of successful practices throughout JUTBs and outside of JUTBs, as appropriate
- Publicize and market JUTB results throughout the community
- Conduct routine national conferences, symposia, or workshops to discuss and highlight JUTB activities at least annually

## Local JUTB

- Local JUTB Manager – approved by Executive Board
- Local Infrastructure Managers (serve on National panels)
- Measurement & Instrumentation
- Modeling
- Information management
- Research
- Operationalize results
- Local Stakeholders (Identified by local interests)

## Selection Process

- National priority
- Local ability to support a test bed
- Uniqueness and/or commonality of the test bed environment
- Competitive Proposal Process

## Selection Criteria   

**National Priority**
- Political importance (National Treasures)
- Strategic importance (Ports, Nuclear, Power Grid, Transportation Hubs, Communication Hubs, Critical Industry)
- Economic importance
- Population density (Health and Public Safety)
- Level of interest and fiscal support at the national level

## Selection Criteria

- Local/state support (interest / priority / commitment of personnel, infrastructure, and other resources)
- Financial commitment (money available, money required to start...  complete)
- Private sector support
- Academic support
- Community involvement - public safety, elected executives (mayors, councils, county boards & commissioners), local emergency response committees, citizen support
- Outreach – community education
- Existing test bed infrastructure elements
- Experienced personnel – users, providers

**  ****Local ability to support a test bed**

## Selection Criteria

**Uniqueness and/or Commonality of the Test Bed Environment**
- Climate
- Weather variability
- Terrain complexity (elevation, slopes, land use, buildings, water interfaces)
- Scientific challenges
- Ability to design and support special field experiments (e.g. tracer experiments) and studies

## Selection Criteria

**Competitive Proposal Process**
- Recommend that general objective be based on above criteria as determined by the Executive Board and published in a formal solicitation with a stated fiscal level of support.
- Urban communities would respond to the solicitation addressing their capabilities in those areas and to the User criteria that the community will provide in fiscal and/or services in kind.
- Selection made on peer review of proposals.

## Implementation Framework

- Successful transition to operations
- Grow networks incrementally
- Choose near-term objectives carefully
- Share results among users & across test beds
- Learn and adjust

## Comments

- Questions