GEO Task US-09-01a Health SBA

1. GEO Task US-09-01aHealth SBA SBA: Health – Air Quality Analyst: Rudolf Husar, Washington University/Lantern Co-Analyst: Stefan Falke, Wash. U./Northrop Grumm. Current Status of Report: Awaiting feedback from Task Lead & some AQ members Date Final Report will be completed (if not already): April/May 2010?

2. Sub-Areas Analyzed Scope Focus: Air Quality • AQ Observation Sub-Areas • Pollutant Parameters • Observation Coverage • Observation Strategy/Utility • AQ System Subareas • Primary, Secondary Emissions • Ambient Concentrations

3. Prioritization Methodology Prioritization uses three independent (orthogonal) measures of EOs: • Pollutants: What is the health effect potency of the pollutant; • Coverage: Spatial-temporal coverage of the EOs; • Utility: Applicability of the EO for multiple aspects of AQH EOs are ranked by each measure individually. The overall priority is the subjectively weighed sum of the 3-dimensional rankings.

4. Prioritization Methodology Coverage: Number of AQ monitoring stations by country/continent Pollutants: WHO Guidelines Identifies pollutants and their max values Searching for monitoring stations by country, pollutant, … Cataloging by country, pollutant, … Comparing AQ monitoring densities in developing and Utility: WHO Guidelines Identifies pollutants and their max values Note: Bibliometric data on pollutants, coverage and utility were collected and analyzed but used only as a backup/consistency check in the prioritization.

5. Analyst Feedback on Methodology The general template for the priority EOs is good for integrating the priorities for all SBAs, all apps in each SBA.

6. Analyst Feedback on Methodology Would you recommend this methodology for other US-09-01a reports in the future? (either as is, or in a modified form?) Would recommend Methods A and B, but with Method A (Key Parameters) in a modified form. Developing a more formalized method for designating Key Parameters would improve the transparency and repeatability • E.g., frequency analysis for designation of key parameters, but that would require a larger body of literature to have a robust sample • E.g., have all Advisory Group members “vote” on the key parameters to limit individual influence

7. Priorities Identified Number of priority parameters identified: 12 List parameters from Chapter 5, and note whether they are in priority order, no order, tiered lists, etc. (use 2nd slide as needed): Two ordered tiers (High & Medium), descending priority

8. Interpretation of Results Note any “themes” that emerged, surprising or expected conclusions, considerations for incorporating results into Cross-SBA Analysis. • RE resource endowment varies by region, so will priorities • Forecasting (e.g., wind) is very important, so meteorological models and required parameters are especially important • Required parameter characteristics (e.g., spatial resolution) varies considerably according to end user/purpose • Advisory Group felt strongly about identifying “key” or enabling parameters, rather than coming up with a longer list of tangentially relevant parameters • UIC should consider sponsoring Primary Research to fill gaps in documentation of end user needs

9. Limitations/ Caveats Additional notes about interpretation of priority results – i.e., inherent biases, gaps, overlaps with other SBA reports, etc. • In general, documentation of user needs was limited – Analyst had to infer user needs in some cases • Solar and wind energy had the most information available – hydropower, bioenergy, and geothermal were lacking. • Other major potential Energy SBA topics are building energy efficiency, load forecasting, and climate change-energy topics (e.g., geologic carbon sequestration, utility planning) • These topics would likely rely on similar sets of solar and meteorological parameters, though ranked differently • Developing RE is part of climate change mitigation, and therefore overlaps considerably with the Climate SBA • Hydropower and fossil fuels dependent on water cycle – overlaps considerably with Water SBA