United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
Research and Development
EPA/600/SR-94/085 December 1994
EPA Project Summary
Multiple Projections System
(MPS): User's Manual
Version 1.0
C.C. Monroe, T.A. Dean, and W.R. Barnard
The Clean Air Act Amendments
(CAAA) of 1990 called for Reasonable
Further Progress (RFP) inventories to
be submitted to EPA for the purpose of
demonstrating strategies by which a
15 % reduction in volatile organic com-
pound (VOC) emissions will be
achieved between 1990 and 1996. This
requirement applies to moderate, seri-
ous, severe, and extreme ozone
nonattainment areas. In addition, seri-
ous, severe, and extreme areas must
demonstrate at least a 3 % annual av-
erage reduction beginning in 1996 and
continuing thereafter until attainment
is reached. In order to meet Sec-
tion 182(b)(1) and (c)(2) requirements,
state/local air agencies require a com-
puter system capable of performing
"what if scenario analysis" and report-
ing the final results (i.e., their Rate-of-
Progress [ROP] inventories) to EPA (i.e.,
Aerometric Information Retrieval Sys-
tem, AIRS). This is based on the 3%
RFP Tracking System that was devel-
oped in FY92/FY93. The 3% RFP Track-
ing System is a Windows* application,
and enhancements to the system to
convert it to a Multiple Projections Sys-
tem (MPS) have continued to be within
the framework of a Windows applica-
tion. The system will support ROP in-
ventories for ozone and carbon mon-
oxide (CO) and thus will contain VOC,
nitrogen oxides NOx, and CO data. The
most significant change from the origi-
nal 3% RFP Tracking System to MPS is
the ability to submit a "final" projec-
* Mention of trade names or commercial products does
not consHule endorsement or recommendation for
use
tion emissions inventory in the format
required by the AIRS Facility Sub-
system (AFS) and the AIRS Area and
Mobile Source (AMS) Subsystem.
The MPS is by outward appearance a
collection of screens with buttons the
user can click. These buttons simplify
the task of setting user-defined param-
eters which the program will use in
projecting future emissions and gener-
ating screen or hard copy output. The
name of each screen is shown in the
upper middle part of the screen. Most
of the major headings in the manual
correspond to the names of these
screens, and they are presented in the
order of their appearance on the moni-
tor. For clarity, screen names are al-
ways printed in all capital letters. Spe-
cific buttons are referred to by the name
printed on them, with the first letter of
each word capitalized.
This Project Summary was developed
by EPA's Air and Energy Engineering
Research Laboratory, Research Tri-
angle Park, NC, to announce key find-
ings of the research project that is fully
documented in a separate report of the
same title (see Project Report ordering
information at back).
Purpose Of the MPS
The MPS is designed to facilitate the
projection of future emissions of ozone
precursors, specifically CO, VOCs, and
NOx, in any given geographic area. The
MPS gives state/local air agencies a com-
puter system capable of performing "what
if scenario analysis and reporting the fi-
Printedon Recycled Paper
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nal results (i.e., their RFP inventories) to
EPA (i.e., AFS and AMS).
System Requirements
The prototype MRS was developed us-
ing Superbase 4, a Microsoft Windows
data base package that can be compiled
and distributed as a stand-alone product.
As a Windows product, it requires Win-
dows in order to run. The Microsoft Win-
dows manual includes general Windows
operating procedures. Additionally, a com-
puter with a 386SX or better microproces-
sor is suggested as the platform on which
to run the prototype. Because the system
was developed using a Windows-based
product, rt has been configured to run
entirely using a mouse to point and click
on various buttons to perform commands
or functions. However, all functions can
also be accessed via the keyboard. A
hard disk drive is required to store all
input and output data files. Disk space
required depends on the number and size
of geographic areas to be studied.
An advantage of developing the system
using a Windows-based product is that
certain tasks can be performed in the
"background," since Windows can perform
multitasking operations when running on
a 386SX or better platform. Thus, when
the system is performing disk intensive or
C. Monroe, A. Dean, and W. Barnard are with E.H. Pechan and Associates, Inc.,
3500 Westgate Dr., Suite 103, Durham, NC 27707.
E. Sue Kimbrough is the EPA Project Officer (see below).
The complete report, entitled "Multiple Projections System (MPS): User's Manual
Version 1.0," consists of a manual and diskettes. (Order No. PB95-501698/AS;
Cost: $90.00; subject to change)
The set will be available only from:
National Technical Information Service
5285 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA 22161
Telephone: 703-487-4650
The EPA Project Officer can be contacted at:
Air and Energy Engineering Research Laboratory
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Research Triangle Park, NC 27711
processor intensive tasks (such as file im-
ports or emission projection calculations),
the program can be minimized to an icon
and the user can work on documents in a
word processor or on a spreadsheet until
the task is complete. The system is de-
signed to beep when these tasks are com-
plete and the icon's title will indicate task
completion. At that point, the user can
return to the program and continue the
analysis.
The system can project emissions out
to the year 2010 at intervals of 3 years. In
addition to projecting emissions, the sys-
tem can make projections in the form of
percent reduction relative to base year
emissions. The system is designed to ac-
cept input data from either the AFS or
AMS. Output from the system is in the
form of tables or graphs, which can be
directed to the computer screen or to a
printer. Tabular results can also be output
to an ASCII file, allowing the user to sub-
sequently import the reported information
into other software for further analysis (ei-
ther numeric or graphic). Data contained
in the output file can also be exported to
Lotus 123, dBaselll, or Excel. As indi-
cated above, the principal output types
are batch transactions in AFS and AMS
format.
United States
Environmental Protection Agency
Center for Environmental Research Information
Cincinnati, OH 45268
Official Business
Penalty for Private Use $300
BULK RATE
POSTAGE & FEES PAID
EPA
PERMIT No. G-35
EPA/600/SR-94/085
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