AERMOD-Ready Meteorological Data

The Air District provides meteorological data to help local governments understand existing air quality conditions and reduce impacts from proposed land use projects and plans.

AERMOD-Ready Meteorological Data Sets for 35 Sites in the Bay Area

Air pollution conditions can vary by location. Local governments need to understand both existing air quality conditions and how to reduce impacts from new land use projects and plans. The Air District provides meteorological data to assist local governments with these tasks. Meteorological data helps local government create models that represent conditions at specific locations. These models are called air quality dispersion models.

Air quality dispersion models are important because meteorology (e.g. prevailing wind direction, wind speed, temperature, mixing heights) plays an important role in determining the downwind concentration and the location of the greatest affected individual (called a "receptor"). The Air District’s recommended dispersion model for health risk assessments, AERMOD, requires that meteorological data be formatted through the AERMET processing software.

The Air District maintains AERMOD-ready meteorological data sets for 35 sites in the Bay Area consisting of 11 sites at airports, 14 sites from major facilities, and 10 sites operated by the agency.

The table on this web page summarizes the stations where the Air District has processed meteorological data. The table includes links to download five years of data for the years 2013 through 2017. These files were processed with AERMET version 18081. Additional years can be obtained by submitting a public records request.

For local governments and other users preparing an air quality analysis, the most appropriate meteorological station for a project should match the meteorological conditions (wind speeds and directions), terrain, and surrounding land use of the project and may not necessarily be the meteorological station closest to the project site.

CEQA practitioners may email questions to the Air District at the address in the blue contact box at the bottom of the page.

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Planning and Climate Protection
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ceqa@baaqmd.gov

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Last Updated: 11/15/2022