| Abstract: | Three regional agencies recently prepared an Air Quality Maintenance Plan for the San Francisco Bay Area oxidant problem. An Eulerian, photochemical model, LIRAQ, provided the technical basis for the plan recommendations. A major LIRAQ input is an emission inventory accurately resolved to one kilometer and one hour increments. The cooperating agencies prepared such inventories, covering 20,000 sq km, for one base and two future years. Several manual and computer-assisted techniques were developed to utilize a variety of independent data bases. Population, land use, employment and transportation data were oganized into a common system of coordinates and units to produce the needed spatial input. Estimates of hourly variation were made by source category based on production rates, fuel use, traffic patterns, flight schedules, and other factors. The result was a series of consistent, detailed inventories which provide a powerful air quality modeling and planning tool. The detail is attained at considerable expense, but the cost is easily justifiable when compared to implementation costs for control strategies. |
