11:25 a.m.
Dear Colleagues,
It is my pleasure to invite you to attend a seminar by Dr Paolo Zannetti on Air Pollution
Modeling.
Best regards,
Andrea
TITLE: Air Pollution Modeling – A Discussion from Different Angles
WHEN: Wednesday 22nd of September, 11:30 am
WHERE: Room A1.02 - East Campus USI-SUPSI, via La Santa 1, Lugano.
Abstract
This year is the 100th anniversary of Taylor (1921)[1], which may be considered the first
relevant publication on air pollution modeling. Since then, substantial progresses have
been made. This seminar presents a view on this topic from different angles.
Air pollution modeling has been 1) investigated by scientists, as a subset of the general
topic of computational fluid dynamics; 2) studied for the purpose of developing computer
simulation packages to be used or recommended by governmental regulatory agencies for
environmental protection [2]; 3) used by the industry to assess the environmental impacts
of its chemical emissions; and 4) used, especially in the US, in the context of
environmental litigation.
This seminar will address developments and uses of air pollution models and, in
particular, Monte Carlo simulation methods, which appear more suitable than other
numerical techniques in reproducing turbulent diffusion in the atmosphere.
Finally, the possible use of machine learning methods for air pollution problems will be
briefly addressed.
[1] Taylor, G.I. (1921) Diffusion by Continuous Movements. Proceedings of the London
Mathematical Society, 20, 196-212.
[2] E.g., https://www.epa.gov/scram
The speaker
Dr. Paolo Zannetti, QEP is the President and Founder of EnviroComp Consulting, Inc. and
the non-profit EnviroComp Institute. He is also the Director of the Air Pollution
Scientific Initiative (APSI).
Dr. Zannetti has performed studies and scientific research in environmental sciences for
40+ years. His activities have covered pure research in the fields of atmospheric sciences
and numerical modeling, written publications, seminars and courses, project management,
environmental consulting, editorial productions, and expert testimony. His major field of
investigation and competence is air pollution. He has written more than 300 publications,
and 40+ books and book chapters, including the book “Air Pollution Modeling”4, completed
in 1990, which was the first comprehensive book in the field and is still today a widely
used textbook. A 4-volume, multi-author, revised and expanded edition of this book has
been completed in 2010 under his direction and chief editorial management.
Dr. Zannetti has studied air quality problems all over the world, often using computer
models to simulate the transport and fate of atmospheric chemicals. In most of these
cases, he simulated the ambient concentrations caused by the emissions using his own
computer models and/or those developed and recommended by government agencies, such as the
US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA).
In addition to his academic and scientific achievements, Dr. Zannetti is very familiar
with litigation consulting and has provided testimony at depositions and trials in more
than 50 cases.