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Atmospheric Protection Branch
Contact InformationAndy Miller, Branch Chief |
The Atmospheric Protection Branch (APB) is part of EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMRL), Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division (APPCD), and is located at Research Triangle Park, NC.
APB’s mission (goal/purpose/objective) is to perform risk management research that will make a difference in the environment of Earth and health of its inhabitants. APB has multiple emphases, including climate change, source emissions characterization (biogenics, mobile sources, coal combustion residues, animal feed lots), energy related sustainability, and modeling. The Branch's mission is to obtain and evaluate information on emissions, approaches, and technologies that relate to these areas.
APB conducts in-house and extramural activities with emphasis on in-house research. The in-house program allows EPA to develop and maintain expertise through hands-on experience.
APB personnel provide expertise in the application of current and next generation technologies and can provide guidance on research and development activities to policy and program offices.
Office Projects/Activities
| Project Title | PI | Planned Product(s) | Research Type | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Impact of EPA's Green Power Purchases | DeCarolis | EPA report, journal article | Secondary Data | EPA report is publicly available: EPA/600/R-07/019 |
| Estimating the Impact of Future Technology Pathways on Global Climate Change | DeCarolis | Journal Articles | Secondary Data | Scoping work performed |
| Emissions Offsets From Wind, Landfill gas, and Municipal Solid Waste Generation | DeCarolis |
Journal Articles | Secondary Data | Work is underway by Synapse. Product approved |
| Estimating the Climatic Impact of Wind Turbines | DeCarolis | Journal Article | Secondary Data | |
| TACT/MARKAL Project | Gage | Reports | Secondary Data | |
| Analysis of Secondary Data on Refrigerant Emissions from Supermarkets | Gage | Paper | Secondary Data | |
| Development of an Ohio State MARKAL | Gage | Database | Secondary Data | Final Report in review |
| Evaluation of the Input-Output Framework Assess Resource Scarcity | Gage | Report | Basic Research | |
| Prescribed Fire and Biological Particle Emission sampling | Geron | Articles; | Sampling & Analysis | reporting phase |
| Biosphere-Atmosphere Trace Gas Exchange and Aerosol Processes | Geron | Articles & database | Model Development | reporting phase |
| Development of an Energy Scenario Strategy for the SE U.S. | Johnson | Report, journal paper, GIS data coverage | ||
| Coal plant multimedia data collection- EP-C-07-015;WA-03 | Johnson | Data are in spread sheet format | Secondary Data | Complete |
| CO2 Capture and Sequestration | Johnson | EPA Report, journal paper | Secondary Data | This work was included in an EPA report (MARKAL Scenario Analyses of Technology Options for the Electric Sector); independent journal publication will be pursued. | Adaptation Workshop EP-C-07-015 |
Johnson | Workshop plus report |
| Ecosystem Service Impacts of Large-scale Biofuels Production in the Upper Midwest #CR83371701-0 (co-operative agreement with Iowa State University) | Johnson | Journal articles, reports | Applied Research | |
| Environmental Impacts of Large-scale Biofuels Production in the Northern Great Plains #CR83372301-0 (co-operative agreement with Kansas State University) | Johnson | Journal articles, reports | Applied Research | Work plan being finalized |
| Soak Time/Start Time Distribution Analysis | Kimbrough | Report | Secondary Data | Report Complete - EPA/600-R-07-075 |
| Data Mining & Analysis of Data from Selected FHWA Data sets | Kimbrough | Report | Secondary Data | Report Complete - EPA/600-R-07-096 |
| Develop Methodologies for Estimation of Emissions from Highway Vehicles | Kimbrough | Report and Model | Model Development; Secondary Data | Report Complete - EPA/600-R-07-106 | Heavy Vehicle Data Collection and Reduction | Kimbrough | NA | Technology Development | Work in conjunction with John Kinsey's Road Side Emission project, which will prepare the work products. No additional funding expected through this mechanism. |
| Near Roadway Emission Characterization | Kimbrough | EPA report, journal article | Applied Research | |
| ESTE Biomass Co-firing in industrial boilers | Kirchgessner | ETV report | Sampling Analysis | In final EPA review |
| ETV ACES-II Diesel Fuel Additive | Kirchgessner | ETV report | Basic Research | Testing invalidated - no report to be published |
| ETV Fuel Cell Energy, Inc. - DFC 300A Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Combined Heat and Power System | Kirchgessner | ETV report | Basic Research | Completed |
| ETV Electric Power and Heat Production Using Renewable Biogas at Patterson Farms | Kirchgessner | ETV report | Basic Research | Completed |
| EP-W-05-045, WA 3-03: Enhancements to the Multimedia Integrated Modeling System and the Analysis Engine Table Application | Loughlin | Updated MIMS and Analysis Engine Table software, source code, and release notes | Software development and data management | This is complete except for final deliverable. |
| EP-W-05-045, WA 2-06 Characterizing the Geographic Allocation of Future Anthropogenic Sources of Criteria Pollutant Emissions | Loughlin | Executable, source code, and documentation of the allocation tool prototype | Software development and data management | This is complete except for final deliverable. |
| GAMS Model for the Emissions Trading Sector: Code inspection and review | Loughlin | Review Memo | Software development and data management | |
| Global Technology Database | Shay | EPA9R - 9 Region MARKAL Database | Basic Research | Database is going through a review process by outside contractor |
| Global Technology Database | Shay | EPANMD - National MARKAL Database | Secondary Data | Database documentation: NRMRL-RTP-375 |
| Support Review and Calibration of US EPA MARKAL 9 Region Model Database | Shay | Report | Secondary Data | |
| Characterization of Coal Combustion Residues | Thorneloe | Series of 4 EPA report and journal publications | Applied Research | Active |
| Update of EPA's Landfill Gas Emission Factors | Thorneloe | EPA Report | Secondary Data | |
| Life-Cycle Study of Fate of Hg, As, and Se on CCR Management | Thorneloe | EPA Report | Secondary Data | Active |
| Developing a Decision Support Tool for Assessing Environmental Data to Evaluate Management of Coal Combustion Residues | Thorneloe | EPA Report (with individual field test reports as appendices) | Model Development | |
| Field Testing of 5 Landfills (CRADA project) | Thorneloe | EPA Report (with individual field test reports as appendices) | Sampling and analysis | Complete except for publication |
| Optical Remote Sensing Development and Application (Co-funded by OSWER) | Thorneloe | Sampling and Analysis | Work assignment contains follow-on funding for several earlier work assignments | |
| DST for Decontaminated Bldg Residues and Disaster Debris - Decision Support Tool and Guidance Document for Management of Debris from Incidents of National Significant | Thorneloe | Software and Development Data | ||
| Landfill Gas as a Pathway (Homeland Security Project) | Thorneloe | Series of Journal Publications | Applied Research | reporting phase |
| Fugitive Emissions from Bioreactor Landfills | Thorneloe | 2 EPA Reports and several journal publications | Sampling and Analysis | Complete except for publication |
| Guidance for Evaluating LFG Emissions at Old Landfills and Superfund/Brownfield Sites | Thorneloe | 4 EPA Reports and several journal and conference publications | Technology Development | Complete except for publication |
| Life-Cycle Study of Integrated Waste Management/Transitioning to Materials Management | Thorneloe | Journal Publications | Applied Research | Complete except for publication |
| Landfill Gas Emission Model (LandGEM) | Thorneloe | Software and User's Manual | Software development and data management | Complete except for publication |
| Measurement of Hg in Landfill Gas | Thorneloe | EPA Report and journal publications | Sampling and Analysis | Complete except for publication |
| Measurement of Mercury and Fugitive Gaseous Emissions at Landfill Bioreactor | Thorneloe | Journal | Basic Research | Reporting phase |
| Determination of Atmospheric Ammonia Concentrations in Agricultural Regions Using Passive Filter Technology | Walker | Journal Articles | Basic Research | |
| Atmospheric Deposition of NH3 in the Vicinity of a Swine Production Facility | Walker | Journal Articles | Basic Research | Reporting phase |
| Nitrogen Trace Gas Emissions from Ecosystems Affected by the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid | Walker | Journal Articles | Basic Research | |
| Exchange of small particles between the atmosphere and vegetation: Determination of size-distributed fluxes and in-canopy concentration profiles | Walker | Journal Articles |
Federal Staff
- Rebecca S. Dodder, Physical Scientist
- Cynthia Gage, Chemical Engineer
- Christopher D. Geron, Environmental Scientist
- Timothy Johnson, Physical Scientist
- Ozge Kaplan, Environmental Engineer
- David A. Kirchgessner, Geologist
- Daniel H. Loughlin, Research Environmental Scientist
- Marc Y. Menetrez, Environmental Engineer
- C. Andy Miller, Supervisory Environmental Engineer
- Carol L. Lenox, Physical Scientist
- John T. Walker Jr., Research Chemist
- Tai Wu, Environmental Scientist (detail)
- William H. Yelverton, Environmental Engineer