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TRAQS User Guide Page 30 4. NEW PROJECT WIZARD The New Project Wizard guides you through the options for creating a new TRAQS project. You have access to the New Project Wizard when you press the New Project ( ) menu toolbar button or select the File | New Project menu option. The New Project Wizard contains the following pages: Project Information Project Scenarios Project Domain
TRAQS User Guide Page 31 4.1. PROJECT INFORMATION The Project Information page is the first screen of the New Project Wizard. Under the Project Information page, you define the following options: TRAQS Project Name & Location This section contains the following options: ï¬ Project Name: Enter the name of the new project. ï¬ Project Location: Press the Browse button to specify the location on your computer where the project will be saved. New Project Wizard - Project Information page
TRAQS User Guide Page 32 Analysis Type This section contains the types of analysis supported by TRAQS as follows: ï¬ PM Project-Level Conformity Analysis: Option to complete a quantitative project-level conformity analysis for PM10 and/or PM2.5. Refer to the referenced U.S. EPA's guidance (U.S. EPA 2015b) prior to implementation. In particular, a hot-spot analysis will be conducted in order to access the air quality impacts from the selected pollutants for transportation pro- jects, including roadway intersections, highways, transit projects, parking lots, and inter- modal terminals. This option involves the calculation of emissions by the MOVES or EMFAC models and the estimation of pollutant concentrations by the US EPA AERMOD air dispersion model (U.S. EPA 2011a). ï¬ CO Project-Level Analysis (Screening): Option to complete a screening level hot-spot analysis for Carbon Monoxide (CO). Refer to the U.S. EPA's guidelines (U.S. EPA 1992 and U.S. EPA 2010a) prior to implementation. This option involves the calculation of emissions by the MOVES or EMFAC models and the estimation of pollutant concentrations by the US EPA AERMOD air dispersion model (U.S. EPA 2011a). ï¬ NEPA Project-Level Analysis: Option to complete a project-level NEPA Transportation Analysis. In particular, a hot-spot analysis will be conducted in order to access the air quality impacts from certain pollutants, namely Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and MSAT on the trans- portation projects. This option involves only the calculation of emissions by the MOVES model. ï¬ Other Analysis: Select this option if the project approach is not categorized as any of the options above. Only supported if the MOVES emissions model was selected. The table below provides an overview of what is supported by each analysis type: Analysis Type Pollutants Emissions Model Dispersion Model PM Project-Level Conformity Analysis PM2.5 and PM10 MOVES or EMFAC AERMOD CO Project-Level Anal- ysis (Screening) CO (Carbon Monoxide) MOVES or EMFAC AERMOD NEPA Project-Level Analysis MSATs, GHG, and any other pollutant supported by MOVES2014a MOVES Only Not Applicable (air dis- persion modeling not available for this anal- ysis) Other Analysis Any Pollutant sup- ported by MOVES2014a MOVES Only Not Applicable (air dis- persion modeling not available for this anal- ysis)
TRAQS User Guide Page 33 Analysis Year This is the year of the analysis. The year 2015 will be displayed by default, however, you may se- lect another calendar year as follows: ï¬ MOVES: Years 1990 and 1999 to 2015. ï¬ EMFAC: Years 1990 to 2050 Emissions Model This section allows you to select the model for estimating emissions for the mobile sources. You may select one of the following options: ï¬ MOVES: Select this option in order to choose US EPA MOVES as the mobile emissions model. TRAQS currently supports the MOVES2014a version. ï¬ EMFAC: Select this option in order to select CARB's EMFAC as the mobile emissions model. This model is only applicable for locations within California. TRAQS currently supports EM- FAC2014-PL version. When finished, click on the Next button to proceed to the next page of the wizard. 4.2. PROJECT SCENARIOS The Project Scenarios page of the New Project Wizard allows you to define the number and type of scenarios, representative month, start hour, and period covered. Scenarios and Representative Month In this section you select the type of scenario you are going to analyze in your project as follows: ï¬ Build Scenario: This is the analysis that includes the proposed project emissions. ï¬ No-Build Scenario: This analysis does not include the proposed improvements and should be carried out in case air quality concentrations from the build scenario do not meet con- formity. The grid available under this section displays a matrix of options where a maximum of 16-scenarios is automatically selected for all types of analysis with the exception of the CO Project-Level Anal- ysis (Screening) option which should be modeled with only one scenario as per US EPA guidance (U.S. EPA 1992).
TRAQS User Guide Page 34 The 16-scenarios will capture emissions for the following: 1. Four seasons/quarters: ï¬ Winter: January is the default month representing this season but February or March can also be selected. ï¬ Spring: April is the default month representing this season but May or June can also be se- lected. ï¬ Summer: July is the default month representing this season but August or September can also be selected. ï¬ Autumn: October is the default month representing this season but November or December can also be selected. 2. Four weekday time periods: ï¬ AM-Peak: Morning peak which is usually the period between 6am and 9am. ï¬ Mid-day: Midday which is usually the period between 9am and 4pm. ï¬ PM-Peak: Evening peak which is usually the period between 4pm and 7pm. ï¬ Overnight: This is usually the period between 7pm and 6am. Representative Start Hour & Period for Each Scenario The grid available under this section displays a short description of the scenarios selected on the top grid including default values for the following parameters: ï¬ Representative Start Hour: For all types of analysis supported by TRAQS, each scenario processed by the MOVES model will be run for 1 representative hour only. The hour speci- fied under this column will be used for the MOVES run. New Project Wizard - Project Scenarios page
TRAQS User Guide Page 35 ï¬ Start Hour for the Period: This hour is to represent the start of the period representing the one hour/one MOVES run. This information is important when passing the calculated emissions to the AERMOD air dispersion model. ï¬ End Hour for the Period: This hour is to represent the end of the period representing the one hour/one MOVES run. This information is important when passing the calculated emis- sions to the AERMOD air dispersion model. The specification of the Start Hour for the Period and End Hour for the Period (columns 3 and 4 on the grid shown in image below) will only be used by TRAQS when emissions calculated by MOVES or EMFAC are distributed throughout the year to be used by the US EPA AERMOD air dispersion model. For example, for the Winter - AM-Peak scenario, the representative start hour is 8am (8 to 9am) which will represent emissions occurring for the period from 6am to 9am (3 hours long). Functionality of Buttons Press this button to revert all options to the default state. Press this button to mark all scenarios as selected. Press this button to unselect all scenarios.
TRAQS User Guide Page 36 4.3. PROJECT DOMAIN The Project Domain page of the New Project Wizard allows you to define the geographical loca- tion and overall domain extent for your project. The initial view of the map area is set to a Latitude and Longitude of 40N and 100W respectively. The user must specify the proper center location for the project's domain by using one of the options explained in the sections below. New Project Wizard - Project Domain page
TRAQS User Guide Page 37 Project Domain Center This section allows you to define the center point of your project's domain by specifying the project coordinates using the following options. Note that the map will automatically update as you enter the project coordinates. Latitude/Longitude Option: ï¬ Latitude: Enter the latitude (in decimal degrees) for the center of your project domain, and then select either N (North) or S (South) to define the hemisphere. ï¬ Longitude: Enter the longitude (in decimal degrees) for the center of your project domain, and then select either W (West) or E (East). Alternatively, you can zoom into an area on the map and click the tool, located on the left side of the window, and click directly on the map to specify the center of your domain. Use an online tool to convert your Latitude and Longitude from Degrees Minute Second to Decimal Degrees. UTM Option: ï¬ Easting (m): Enter the Easting coordinate in meters for the center of your project domain. ï¬ Northing (m): Enter the Northing coordinate in meters for the center of your project do- main.
TRAQS User Guide Page 38 ï¬ UTM Zone: Enter the UTM zone for your project location (1 to 60). ï¬ North/South: This is the hemisphere, either North or South. North hemisphere is the de- fault. TRAQS assumes the WGS84 datum for all coordinates that you specify (Lat/Long and/or UTM coordinates). Domain Extent This section allows you to define the project domain extent, either in miles or kilometers, by specifying the overall extents relative to the domain center point (e.g., project domain center specified above) as a reference point. For example, if you specify 1 mile as the overall extent from north to south, the domain will be extended for 0.5 mile northward from the reference point and 0.5 mile southward from the said location. The same principle applies to the overall extent from east to west. As a result, the domain boundary will appear as a square or rectangle on the map depending on the inputs for the overall extents. ï¬ North-South (km or miles): This is the extents of your domain in the North-South direc- tion. The default value of 1 mile is used. ï¬ East-West (km or miles): This is the extents of your domain in the East-West direction. The default value of 1 mile is used.
TRAQS User Guide Page 39 Functionality of Tools You can adjust the zoom level of the map by using the Zoom bar next to the map interface. You can either enter a zoom level directly or adjust the sliding position of the zoom button. Alterna- tively, you can hover the cursor on the map interface and then use the scroll wheel of your mouse in order to adjust the zoom level manually. Press these buttons to zoom in and zoom out the current map display. Press this button and click on the map area to graphically define the center of your domain. Press this button to set the map view to the user-defined domain extents. If the project set up is complete, then click on the Finish button of the New Project Wizard. TRAQS will create all necessary database files for your new project and takes you to the TRAQS Main window. Zoom tool