Environmental Models, Tools, and Data Resources

Environmental models are designed to simulate real world environments and phenomena. They help us understand relationships between various components of a system and predict outcomes with degrees of certainty.
The environmental models presented below provide examples of various approaches that may be used to tailor products and services based on the client needs. Click the colored titles to get more information. 
Click here for an environmental model summary.


Water
  • Biotic Ligand Model (BLM) – Used to calculate metal speciation and predict metal toxicity in aquatic systems. Supports a variety of metals including copper, silver, cadmium, and zinc. 
  • Estimation Program Interface (EPI) Suite – A suite of environmental fate estimation programs used to estimate a variety of chemical/physical properties for a given chemical including: partition coefficients (e.g., Kow, Koc, Koa), water solubility, BCF (Bioconcentration Factor), volatilization rate, and degradation rates (e.g., hydrolysis and biodegradation).
  • FQPA Index Reservoir Screening Tool (FIRST) – A health-protective, screening-level surface water model that is used to assess exposure to pesticides in drinking water.
  • Kow (based) Aquatic BioAccumulation Model (KABAM) – Used to estimate potential bioaccumulation of hydrophobic organic pesticides in freshwater aquatic food webs and subsequent risk to mammals and birds via consumption of contaminated aquatic prey. This model may also be used to estimate pesticide concentration in fish tissue consumed by humans.
  • Pesticide in Water Calculator (PWC) – Estimates pesticide concentrations in water bodies and sediment that result from pesticide applications to land. Predecessors to the SWCC that have been used include:
                  v PRZM-EXAMS Shell Version 5 (PE5)
                  v EXAMS-PRZM Exposure Simulation Shell (EXPRESS)
  • The Pesticide Root Zone Model for GroundWater (PRZM-GW) – A health-protective, screening-level tool that provides estimates of pesticide concentrations in groundwater. It also allows for region specific scenario development in cases where refined drinking water assessments are needed.
  • The Root Zone Water Quality Model 2 (RZWQM2) – Simulates major physical, chemical, and biological processes in an agricultural production system. Simulates the growth of the plant and the movement of water, nutrients and pesticides over, within and below the crop root zone of a unit area.
  • RPcalc – Calculates the one-sided upper confidence bound (UCB) of an effluent population percentile after complete mixing. These UCBs can be compared to a numeric Water Quality Objective or criterion to determine whether an effluent limitation is required under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES).
  • Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) – A model used around the world for planning, analysis, and design related to stormwater runoff, combined and sanitary sewers, and other drainage systems in urban areas. Applications exist for non-urban area drainage systems as well.
  • Vegetative Filter Strip Modeling System (VFSMOD) – A model designed to study hydrology and sediment transport through vegetative filter strips.
  • Visual MINTEQ – A chemical equilibrium model for the calculation of metal speciation, solubility equilibria, sorption, etc. for natural waters.


Air
  • AERMOD – A steady-state plume model that incorporates air dispersion based on planetary boundary layer turbulence structure and scaling concepts, including treatment of both surface and elevated sources, and both simple and complex terrain.
  • AERSCREEN – A health-protective, screening model based on AERMOD that is intended to produce concentration estimates that are equal to or greater than estimates produced by AERMOD. This model produces estimates of “worst-case” 1-hour concentrations for a single source, without the need for hourly meteorological data, and also includes conversion factors to estimate “worst-case” 3-hour, 8-hour, 24-hour, and annual concentrations.
  • AgDISP/AgDRIFT – Models used to predict pesticide spray drift from application sites. These models characterize release, dispersion, and deposition over and downwind of the application area.
  • Areal Locations of Hazardous Atmospheres (ALOHA) – Models real or potential chemical releases and generates threat zone estimates for various types of hazards. ALOHA can model toxic gas clouds, flammable gas clouds, BLEVEs (Boiling Liquid Expanding Vapor Explosions), jet fires, pool fires, and vapor cloud explosions.
  • Computer-Aided Management of Emergency Operations (CAMEO) – A system of software applications used to plan for and respond to chemical emergencies. Developed by U.S. EPA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to assist front-line chemical emergency planners and responders, CAMEO can access, store, and evaluate information critical for developing emergency plans.
  • Dense Gas Dispersion Model (DEGADIS) – Simulates the atmospheric dispersion at ground-level of area source dense gas (or aerosol) clouds released with zero momentum into the atmospheric boundary layer over flat, level terrain.  The model describes the dispersion processes which accompany the ensuing gravity-driven flow and entrainment of the gas into the boundary layer.
  • Estimation Program Interface (EPI) Suite – Described previously above.
  • Plant Off-gassing Model – A model developed to predict exposure of workers employed at a post-transfer receiving facility who have the potential to be exposed to fumigant that has off-gassed from fumigated commodities during transport. This model was developed by Blankinship & Associates as part of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Statewide PEIR Human Health Risk Assessment. Click here to find out more!
  • Risk Management Plan (RMP) Comp – Used to complete the Off-site Consequence Analyses (both worst-case and alternative scenarios) required under the Risk Management Program rule.


Terrestrial


Risk Assessment
  • Acute to Chronic Estimation (ACE) (RA V1.0 Software Suite) – Estimates chronic toxicity (lethality) for a species from raw acute toxicity data.
  • Comprehensive Risk Analysis Kalculator (CRANK)/Dashboard – Through connecting various U.S. EPA and other Excel-based environmental models in a single Excel workbook, the CRANK allows for rapid automation and generation of risk assessment data. This capability is further enhanced to manage large quantities of risk assessment data and exposure scenarios through integration with the Dashboard Database. The Dashboard Database is an electronic database that was developed to provide easy access to data generated by the CRANK. It serves as a reservoir for scenario inputs, facilitates the placement of those inputs in the CRANK, and stores and displays the results of CRANK runs through an interactive user-interface. The CRANK/Dashboard is a product developed by Blankinship & Associates in support of the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) Statewide PEIR Human Health Risk Assessment. Click here to find out more!
  • Dense Gas Dispersion Model (DEGADIS) – Described previously above.
  • Estimation Program Interface (EPI) Suite – Described previously above.
  • Estimating Acute Toxicity (EAT) (RA V1.0 Software Suite) – A model that provides 3 methods for estimating EC, ED, LC, or LD values based on raw toxicity data. These methods re standard probit analysis (PROBIT), Trimmed Spearman-Karber (TS-K), and Surface Response Model (SRM).
  • Hazard Assessment (HA) (RA V1.0 Software Suite) – The HA model fits a statistical distribution to toxicity test endpoint values for species tested with exposure to the same chemical. It provides a sensitivity ranking (species sensitivity distribution [SSD]) as centile values for species with known or estimated acute or chronic toxicity values for a given chemical, and it estimates a toxicity value for a hypothetical species with a designated sensitivity (e.g., 5th centile).
  • Interspecies Correlation Estimation (ICE) (RA V1.0 Software Suite) – Estimates acute, subacute, and chronic toxicity for a species or higher taxa lacking toxicity data based on toxicity data from a taxonomically similar species. The approach integrates species sensitivity to chemicals with species taxonomic similarities (physiology, biochemistry) using correlation methodology, allowing for estimation of a chemical’s toxicity to many species from the toxicity values of only 1 or a few species.
  • LifeLine – Characterizes population-based aggregate and cumulative exposure and risk from pesticide residues in food and tapwater as well as in the home following residential uses. The software provides a powerful tool to understand the relative contribution from these sources, and how they vary across individuals’ lives.
  • Residential Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) – The Residential SOP serve as instructions for estimating exposure resulting from the most common non-occupational pesticide uses including lawn and garden care, foggers, and pet treatment. Excel-based spreadsheets are available to perform the calculations described in the Residential SOP guidance.
  • Risk Management Plan (RMP) Comp – Described previously above.
  • Toxicity Adjustment (TA) (RA V1.0 Software Suite) – Adjusts acute (EC50, LC50) or chronic no-effect aquatic toxicity values of certain chemicals to compensate for differences in water hardness or pH among toxicity tests.


Miscellaneous
  • Nutrient Requirements of Dairy Cattle (Beef NRC) – A model used to explore the impact of biological, production management, and environmental diversity among cattle, as well as gain insight into cattle nutrient requirements and utilization.