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William B. Petersen
AMAD Staff Education:
- B.A. Physics, Univ. of North Carolina at Charlotte, 1972
- M.S. Marine Sciences (Meteorology), North Carolina State University, 1974
Professional Experience:
The Atmospheric Sciences Modeling Division within NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory partners in collaborative research with the National Exposure Research Laboratory in EPA’s, Office of Research & Development.
Mr. Petersen has been a meteorologist with NOAA since 1974. Between 1974 - 1992 his research included atmospheric transport and dispersion from industrial source emissions, highway emissions and Lagrangian puff modeling.
In 1992, Mr. Petersen became Chief of the Applied Modeling Research Branch, in the Atmospheric Sciences Modeling Division. The Applied Modeling Research Branch investigates and develops applied numerical simulation models of sources, transport, fate, and mitigation of air toxic pollutants in the near field and conducts research to develop and improve human exposure predictive models, focusing principally on urban environments where exposures are high. Databases are assembled and used to model development and research on flow characterization, dispersion modeling, and human exposure.
In 2002, Mr. Petersen became Assistant Director of the Atmospheric Sciences Modeling Division.
Professional Activities & Memberships:
- American Meteorological Society
Awards:
- Bronze Medal for Commendable Service: For development of an air dispersion and deposition model to be used nationally for conducting routine indirect-exposure risk assessments., December, 1995.
- Gold Medal for extraordinary contributions to the safe and effective inactivation of anthrax spores contaminating the U.S. Postal Service Brentwood Processing and Distribution Center., April, 2004
Publications:
Petersen, W. B., 1974: Analysis of Turbulence Parameters from the 366-Meter SRL-WJBF Tower, A Thesis, North Carolina State University, Raleigh North Carolina.
Weber, A. H., J. S. Irwin, J. P. Kahler, and W. B. Petersen, 1975: Atmospheric Turbulence Properties in the Lowest 300 Meters, EPA-600/4-75-004, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. 153 pp.
Turner, D.B. and W. B. Petersen, 1975: A Gaussian-Plume Algorithm for Point, Area, and Line Sources, Proc. 6th International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application, NATO/CCMS, 42, 185-228, Brussels, Belgium.
Petersen, W. B., 1976: Comparison of Dispersion Model Estimates with Measured Sulfate Concentrations, pp 102-128 in The General Motors/ Environmental Protection Agency Sulfate Dispersion Experiment - Selected EPA Research Papers. EPA-600/3-76-035, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Petersen, W. B., 1978: A Pilot Study on Dispersion Near Roadways, EPA-600/4-78-004, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. 23 pp.
Petersen, W. B., 1978: Use of Wind Fluctuation Statistics to Estimate Dispersion Near Roadways, Proc. 9th International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application, NATO/CCMS, 103, 155-164, Brussels, Belgium.
Petersen, W. B., 1978: User's Guide for PAL - A Gaussian Plume Algorithm for Point, Area, and Line Sources, EPA-600/4-78-013, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. 155 pp.
Petersen, W.B. and S. T. Rao, 1979: The Long Island Expressway Dispersion Experiment, Proc. 4th Symp. on Turbulence, Diffusion, and Air Pollution. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 421-428, Boston, MA.
Patterson, R. M., P. B. Simmon, and W. B. Petersen, 1980: Commuter Exposure Modeling. Part I - Overview and Transportation Module, p 19-24 in Atmospheric Pollution 1980, Studies in Environmental Science, 8, M. Benarie, Ed., Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlande.
Simmon, P. B., R. M. Patterson, and W. B. Petersen, 1980: Commuter Exposure Modeling Part II - Emission and Dispersion Modules and Generation of Exposure Statistics, pp 13-18 in Atmospheric Pollution 1980, Studies in Environmental Science, 8, M. Benarie, Ed., Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlande.
Petersen, W. B., 1980: User's Guide for HIWAY-2 - A Highway Air Pollution Model, EPA-600/8-80-018, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. 80 pp.
Petersen, W. B., R. H. Allen, R. A. Ziskind, and M. B. Rogozen, 1981: Carbon Monoxide Commuter Exposure Data Base, A 5-Day Study in Los Angeles; EPA-600/4-81-069, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. 77 pp.
Arnts, R. R., W. B. Petersen, R. L. Seila and B. W. Gay Jr., 1981: a-Pine Forest Hydrocarbon Emissions Source Strength Versus Ambient Concentrations, Proc. 74th Annual Meeting of the Air Pollution Control Assoc., Paper No. 81-27.4, Pittsburg, PA.
Petersen, W. B., 1982: Estimating Concentrations Downwind from an Instantaneous Puff Release, EPA-600/3-82-078, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. 65 pp.
Arnts, R. R., W. B. Petersen, R. L. Seila and B. W. Gay Jr., 1982: Estimates of a-Pinene Emissions from a Loblolly Pine Forest Using an Atmospheric Diffusion Model. Atmos. Environ., 16, 2127-2137.
Petersen, W. B. and R. A. Allen, 1982: Carbon Monoxide Exposures to Los Angeles Area Commuters: J. Air Pollution Control Assoc; 32, 826-833.
Weber, A. H., J. S. Irwin, W. B. Petersen, J. E. Mathis, and J. P. Kahler, 1982: Spectral Scales in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer, J. Appl. Meteorol., 21, 1622-1632.
Petersen, W. B., J. S. Irwin, D.B. Turner, J. A. Catalano, and F. V. Hale III, 1983: Handbook for Preparing User's Guides for Air Quality Models. EPA-600/8-83-018. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 47 pp.
Petersen, W. B., J. A. Catalano, T. Chico, and T. S. Yuen, 1984: INPUFF - A Single Source Gaussian Puff Dispersion Model User's Guide. Technical report in press. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC. 123 pp.
Petersen, W. B., R. E. Eskridge, S. T. Rao, V. Pagnotti, 1984: Effects of Traffic Speed on the Ambient Pollutant Concentrations Near Roadways, Preprint and presentation, 77th Annual Meeting of the APCA, June 24-29, 1984.
Petersen, W. B., and J. S. Irwin, 1984: Climatological Variability in Maximum Concentrations. pp 99-102 in Conference Volume, Fourth Joint Conference on Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology, 16-19 Oct 1984, Portland, OR. Amer. Meteorol. Soc., Boston, MA.
Rao, S. T., G. Sistla, V. Pagnotti, W. B. Petersen, J. S. Irwin, D. B. Turner, 1984: Evaluation of RAM with the RAPS Level-7 Data Base. Preprint and presentation, 77th Annual Meeting of the APCA, June 24-29, 1984.
Eskridge, R. E., W. B. Petersen, S. T. Rao, and G. Sistla, 1984: Turbulent Diffusion Behind Vehicles: Experiments and Verification of Roadway Models. Preprint and presentation, 77th Annual Meeting of the APCA, June 24-29, 1984.
Rao, S. T., G. Sistla, V. Pagnotti, W. B. Petersen, J. S. Irwin, D.B. Turner, 1984: Resampling and Extreme Value Statistics in Air Quality Model Performance Evaluation; in Conference Volume, Fourth Joint Conference on Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology, 16-19 Oct 1984, Portland, OR. Amer. Meteorol. Soc., Boston, MA.
Petersen, W. B., and J. S. Irwin. Climatological Variability in Modeled Maximum Concentrations. Atmospheric Environment 19:739-742 (1985).
Rao, S. T., G. Sistla, V. Pagnotti, W. B. Petersen, J. S. Irwin, D. B. Turner. Evaluation of the Performance of RAM With the Regional Air Pollution Study Data Base. Atmospheric Environment 19:229-245 (1985).
Rao, S. T., G. Sistla, V. Pagnotti, W. B. Petersen, J. S. Irwin, D.B. Turner. Resampling and Extreme Value Statistics in Air Quality Model Performance Evaluation. Atmospheric Environment 19:1503-1518 (1985).
Irwin, J. S., T. M. Asbury, and W. B. Petersen., 1986: Description of the Savannah River Laboratory Meteorological Data Base for 1975 to 1979. EPA/600/3-86/017, Atmospheric Sciences Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC, 126 pp.
Petersen, W. B. A demonstration of INPUFF with the MATS Data Base. Atmospheric Environment 20:1341-1346 (1986).
Petersen, W. B., and L. G. Lavdas., 1986: INPUFF-2.0 - A Multiple Source Gaussian Puff Dispersion Algorithm. EPA/600/8-86/024, Atmospheric Sciences Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC, 105 pp.
Rao S. T., and G. Sistla, R. E. Eskridge, and W. B. Petersen. Turbulent Diffusion Behind Vehicles: Evaluation of Roadway Models. Atmospheric Environment 20:1095-1103 (1986).
Petersen, W.B., 1986: A Multiple Source PUFF Model. Fifth Joint Conference on Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology, November 18-21, 1986, Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 242-245, Boston, MA.
Petersen, W. B., and E. D. Rumsey, 1986: User's Guide for PAL 2.0. A Gaussian-Plume Algorithm for Point, Area, and Line Sources. EPA/600/8-87/009, Atmospheric Sciences Research Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC, 83 pp.
Irwin, J. S., S. T. Rao, W. B. Petersen, and D. B. Turner. Relating Error Bounds for Maximum Concentration Estimates to Diffusion Meteorology Uncertainty. Atmospheric Environment 21:1927-1937 (1987).
Petersen, W. B., W. H. Snyder, J. K. Ku, and S. T. Rao, 1988: Dispersion of Dense Releases in a Wind Tunnel. Proc. 17th International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application, Volume II, September 19-22, 1988, Cambridge, England. NATO/CCMS, 42, 185-228, Brussels, Belgium.
Huber, A. H., and W. B. Petersen. 1989: Simulating Concentration Fluctuations in the Wake of a Building Using a Gaussian Integrated Puff Model. Preprints, Sixth Joint Conference on Applications of Air Pollution Meteorology, January 30 - February 3, 1989, Anaheim, California. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 154-157, Boston, MA.
Irwin. J. S., A. H. Huber, and W. B. Petersen 1990: Estimating Exposures Downwind of Isolated Buildings. Proceedings of the 1990 U.S. EPA/A&WMA International Symposium on Measurement of Toxic and Related Air Pollutants, Raleigh, North Carolina, May 1990. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, research Triangle Park, NC, and Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburg, 905-910.
Petersen W. B., and A. H. Huber. 1990: Concentration Fluctuations of Toxic Material Downwind of a Building. Proceedings of the 1990 U.S. EPA/A&WMA International Symposium on Measurement of Toxic and Related Air Pollutants, Raleigh, North Carolina, May 1990. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, research Triangle Park, NC, and Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburg, 911-916.
Irwin. J. S., and W. B. Petersen. 1991: Modeling Carbon Monoxide (CO) Exposure Within Microenvironments Given Personal Exposure Data. Proceedings of the 1991 U.S. EPA/A&WMA International Symposium on Measurement of Toxic and Related Air Pollutants, Raleigh, North Carolina, May 1991. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, research Triangle Park, NC, and Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburg.
Petersen W. B., and J. S. Irwin. 1991: A Sensitivity Analysis of the Effects of Serial Correlation on Exposure Estimates. Proceedings of the 1991 U.S. EPA/A&WMA International Symposium on Measurement of Toxic and Related Air Pollutants, Raleigh, North Carolina, May 1991. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, research Triangle Park, NC, and Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburg.
Stogner, R. E., J. S. Irwin, W. B. Petersen, M. Aissa, and A. Lansari, 1991: Two Indoor Air Exposure Modeling Studies: CONTAM Modeling Results, and Serial Correlation Effects. EPA/600-3-91/013, Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Laboratory, Research Triangle Park, NC, 149 pp.
Eskridge, R. E., W. B. Petersen, and S. T. Rao. Turbulent Diffusion Behind Vehicles: Effects of Traffic on Pollutant Concentrations. J. of the Air & Waste Management Association, (41)3:312-317. (1991)
Perry, S.G., R.S. Thompson, W.B. Petersen. Consideration For Modeling Small-Particulate Impacts From Surface Coal-Mining Operations Based On Wind Tunnel Simulations. Eigth Joint Conference on the Application of Air Pollution Meteorology with AWMA. January 23-28, 1994, Nashville,TN.
Petersen, W.B., and S.G. Perry. Improved algorithms for Estimating the Effects of Pollution Impacts from Area and Open Pit Sources. NATO/CCMS 21 st International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modeling and its Application, Baltimore, Maryland, Nov. 6-10, 1995. American Meteorological Society, Boston, 275-282 (1995).
Schwede, D.B., R.W. Brode, J.O. Paumier, and W.B. Petersen (1999): Simulating Atmospheric Exposure in a National Risk Assessment Using an Innovative Meteorological Sampling Scheme. Proceedings, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry 20th Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, November 14-18, 1999.
Schwede, D.B., W.B. Petersen, and S.K. Leduc (2000): Simulating atmospheric exposure using an innovative meteorological sampling scheme. Proceedings, Millenium NATO/CCMS International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modeling and its Application, Boulder, Colorado, May 15-19, 2000.