AIRS-Info provides AQS manuals, data dictio-
naries, user guides, and related memoranda.
AIRS Graphics/AIRS EXEC
AIRS Graphics (AG) integrates data from the
AIRS subsystems into maps and charts that
enable users to identify patterns, trends, and
anomalies in air pollution data. Interactive
menus make it easy to choose "graphical re-
ports" and control their contents. The software
displays color graphics on a 3270 graphics
terminal and provides users with options such as
saving the graph, producing color prints, export-
ing the graph and/or data in PC format, and
browsing the data used to create the graph.
Graphs produced by AG can reveal patterns,
trends, and anomalies in air pollution data. For
example, users can produce a map showing the
locations of sulfur dioxide air monitors and
emission sources, to exhibit the geographical
distribution of pollutant sources and monitors and
their proximity to each other.
AIRS Executive is a user-friendly IBM PC
program that contains a select subset of data
extracted from the AIRS database. It guides
users to air pollution information on ambient air
and plant emissions sources. AIRS Executive
software is available in both USA and interna-
tional versions from the AIRS Graphics/AIRS
Executive Software/Manuals section of AIRS-
Info.
Obtaining AIRS data
AIRS data are not housed on AIRS-Info. Direct
retrieval of information from AIRS requires a user
account on EPA's IBM computer system at the
NCC and an IBM-3270 computer terminal or
equivalent. An application for a user account is
available from AIRS-Info, or by calling NTIS at
(703)487-4630.
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
456VF-97-006
September 1997
For AIRS Information on
EPA's TTNWeb:
http: //www.epa .gov/ttn
Contact: Michael Hamlin
(919)541-5232
Functions
The AIRS Information web is one of 1 7 available
on EPA's Technology Transfer Network Web
(TTNWeb ), a collection of electronic information
sources developed and operated by OAQPS. The
service is free, except for the cost of connecting to
the Internet. TTNWeb is accessible 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week.
You can connect directly to TTNWeb over the
World Wide Web (WWW).
If you're on the Internet, it couldn't be easier —
the Universal Resource Locator (URL) is printed
in the box above.
There is no standard way of accessing the
Internet, but once you have Internet access, you
can use anyWorld Wide Web browser to connect
and transfer files from AIRS-Info.
Use the URL http://www.epa.gov/ttn. From
there, select "Directory of TTN Sites". Finally,
trom the directory page, select "AIRS -
Aerometric Information Retrieval Systems
Information."
EPA
Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards
AIRS
Information
on the
World Wide Web
(AIRS-INFO)
http://www.epa.gov/ttn
-------
Purpose of AIRS-Info
The Aerometric Information Retrieval System
(AIRS) contains information about air pollution
in the United States and other World Health
Organization (WHO) member countries. The
AIRS Information web site(AIRS-Info), devel-
oped by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (U.S. EPA), aids system users in
sharing that information. AIRS-Info replaces
the TTN AIRS Bulletin Board System. AIRS
resides on the IBM mainframe at EPA's Na-
tional Computer Center (NCC) in Research
Triangle Park, North Carolina and is adminis-
tered by the Information Transfer and Program
Integration Division of EPA's Office of Air
Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS).
The purpose of AIRS-Info is to make AIRS-
related information and computer software
available to the AIRS user community. To
serve that purpose, AIRS-Info is organized
around the different component subsystems of
AIRS.
AIRS
AIRS contains air quality, emissions, compliance,
enforcement, and operating permit information
needed by OAQPS and state agencies to carry
out their respective programs for improving and
maintaining air quality. No other air-pollution
database in the world compares with AIRS in
terms of coverage, accuracy, and large-scale
user-community involvement. The AIRS user
community includes State and Local air
agencies, academic research programs, envi-
ronmental advocacy groups, legislative lobby-
ists, private citizens, and EPA. AIRS data are
stored in the AIRS Facility Subsystem (AFS),
the Air Quality Subsystem (AQS), and the
Geographic, Common, and Maintenance
Subsystem(GCS). GCS contains reference
data shared by the AFS and AQS subsystems.
The data include codes and code descriptions
used to identify places, pollutants, and pro-
cesses, geographic information, and values
such as air quality standards and emission
factors.
AIRS-Info provides general AIRS information,
including answers to some common questions
about AIRS, downloadable registration forms
for AIRS conferences and AIRS data access,
and the AIRS Tool Box, with tips for using
common PC applications with AIRS data. Also
available are current and recent back issues of
the quarterly AlRSLetter, which covers emerg-
ing issues and provides information related to
AIRS subsystems and applications.
AFS: AIRS Facility Subsystem
AFS contains emissions and compliance data
on air pollution point sources regulated by the
U.S. EPA and/or state and local agencies. It
also holds data for over 150,000 industrial
plants and their components, dating back to
1970.
The AFS also includes data for management of
operating permit applications and renewals.
Emissions estimates are available for a smaller
number of plants, generally plants emitting more
than 100 tons per year of one or more of the
criteria pollutants. Emissions estimates from
1985 to the present are available at process-
specific levels and are accumulated for plant
totals. Toxic data are available for plants
emitting more than ten tons per year of any
regulated toxic or 25 tons per year combined.
One of the more frequently accessed sections of
the AFS portion of AIRS-Info is the link labelled
"MACT Files/Software/Manuals". From this
location one can download a information about
how to make case-by-case MACT determinations
using data in AFS. Available files include a
MACT Data Entry Guide, HAP codes to use
with AFS, results of the MACT Pilot test, and
.zip archives of industry-specific source classifica-
tion codes.
In addition to this MACT information, AIRS-
Info contains AFS manuals, data dictionaries,
user guides, training information, and tips to
make getting at and using AFS information
easier.
AQS: Air Quality Subsystem
AQS contains measurements of ambient concen-
trations of air pollutants and meteorological data
from thousands of monitoring stations operated
by EPA, state, and local agencies, as well as
descriptive information about each station,
including its geographic location and operator.
These data are used to assess the overall status of
the nation's air quality and to identify localities
where improvements in air quality are needed.
The subsystem, which serves as the nation's
pollution "barometer," has been in production
since 1987 and is accessed by State, local, and
Federal agencies. Air quality data date back to
1958 and include more than 10,000 monitors
worldwide operated by EPA, state and local
agencies, and WHO member countries. The AQS
makes summary air quality data for all years
readily available, including all raw data for the
nation. Data is stored on an hourly, monthly,
quarterly, or yearly basis according to various
regulatory and measurement criteria. A
re-engineering of the AQS is underway.
------- |