Federal Aviation Administration

Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS)

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  • |  Updated: 4:17 pm ET November 5, 2009

The Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS) was developed in the mid-1980s as a complex source microcomputer model designed to assess the air quality impacts of proposed airport development projects.

What is EDMS Designed to Do?

The Emissions and Dispersion Modeling System (EDMS) is designed to assess the air quality impacts of airport emission sources, particularly aviation sources, which consist of:

  • Aircraft
  • Auxiliary power units
  • Ground support equipment
  • Ground access vehicles
  • Stationary sources

EDMS is one of the few air quality assessment tools specifically engineered for the aviation community. It includes:

  • Emissions and dispersion calculations
  • The latest aircraft engine emission factors from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Engine Exhaust Emissions Data Bank
  • Vehicle emission factors from the latest version of the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) MOBILE6 model
  • EPA-validated dispersion algorithms
  • Emissions data for criteria pollutants and speciated organic gas emissions OGs (45 HAPs and 349 non-toxic compounds).

FAA Required Model

In 1998, FAA revised its policy on air quality modeling procedures to identify EDMS as the Required Model (PDF) to perform air quality analyses for aviation sources instead of the preferred model. This revised policy ensures the consistency and quality of aviation analyses performed for FAA. The FAA continues to enhance the model under the guidance of its government/industry advisory board to more effectively determine emission levels and concentrations generated by typical airport emission sources.

EDMS 5.1.2 (November 2009)

EDMS 5.1.2 contains bug fixes relating to the VALE Emission Reduction Reports from EDMS 5.1.1. Here is the short list of improvements made in EDMS 5.1.2:

  • Corrected the title "AERC Report" so it is displayed correctly as "Emissions Reduction Report for Cost Effectiveness" or "Emission Reduction Report for AERCs"
  • Fixed the "Cumulative Total" of the report to show the correct value for the VALE scenarios.

Saving Study

  • Similar to other Windows applications, the EDMS 5.1.2 user must explicitly “save” the study to disk. This will allow the user to revert to the last saved version, if an error is made during data entry. However, updating the emissions inventory will automatically save the study data upon completion of the emission calculations.

This release includes:

Instructions for upgrading from EDMS 5.0x to EDMS 5.1.2:

  • If you already have EDMS 5.0, EDMS 5.0.1, EDMS 5.0.2, EDMA 5.1, or EDMS 5.1.1, download the update to EDMS 5.1.2: 5.0.x-5.1.2 (EXE) (dated November 2009), and download the documentation files above.
  • You do not need to apply for the BADA license again.

Instructions for ordering the EDMS 5.1.2 CD:

The EDMS 5.1.2 upgrade executable provided above will not work on an older 4.X version of EDMS. If you currently have an older version of EDMS that precedes version 5 and wish to use the features of EDMS 5.1, you will need to reorder the latest version of EDMS 5.1 and obtain a free BADA license from EUROCONTROL as follows.

  1. Send the completed EDMS order form (PDF) to edms@cssiinc.com or call (202) 863-3706.
  2. Request a free license from EUROCONTROL

    EDMS 5 uses the EUROCONTROL Base of Aircraft Data ("BADA") for aircraft performance modeling. In addition to completing the EDMS Order Form, the user must also obtain a free license directly from EUROCONTROL for use of BADA.

    Please follow these steps when completing the license agreement:

    1. Complete the Licensee portion of the agreement to the best of your ability.
      1. Legal form of company refers to how the company is registered (e.g. non-profit, LLC, etc.)
      2. The registered office of which is at: (indicate where the company is registered)
    2. Complete the Requestee official credentials section
      1. You are requesting BADA 3.7
    3. Complete the intended use of BADA section
      1. Select “other” and enter: Purchase EDMS Model
      2. You must complete all of the fields in red regarding the project that requires the use of EDMS. Be sure to describe in detail the intended use of the software in more than just a few words. You cannot use EDMS for a comparative analysis of aircraft types, and must clearly state that you will not do this.
      3. (You probably learned about BADA through the EDMS web site.)
      4. Under description of use, indicate that BADA will be exercised exclusively through the EDMS model to support airport emissions calculations
    4. Do not complete the optional section on the BADA calculation tool, it is not needed by EDMS.
      1. Do not enter a machine name or username
    5. Check the box to indicate that you have read and understand the terms of the agreement

    Please do NOT contact EUROCONTROL for the status of your order or BADA license.

  3. Timing of EDMS Shipping

    Upon submission of the BADA license request, EUROCONTROL will notify the FAA within two (2) working days that the request has been approved. Subsequently, CSSI Inc. will distribute the EDMS CD to the user without further notice via the delivery method selected by the user.

EDMS Technical Support Questions:

Technical support is available via phone, fax, and email:

Other EDMS questions should be directed to:

EDMS 5 Weather Data Information

EDMS 5 generates input files for the powerful next-generation dispersion model developed by EPA, AERMOD. The AERMOD meteorological preprocessor, AERMET, requires a significant amount of weather data in order to accurately characterize the atmosphere. Surface data for each hour is required to determine the current wind direction, wind speed, temperature and cloud cover. In addition, twice-daily upper-air observations are required to properly determine the mixing height.

Ordering Weather Data

Weather data are available for a charge from the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) and for free from the EPA Support Center for Regulatory Air Models (SCRAM) and WebMET.

Surface Data

AERMET supports the following surface weather data formats. NOTE that weather data downloaded from the NCDC website are NOT compatible with AERMOD, so the NCDC data from CD-ROM must be used instead.

  • TD-3280: Historical and recent data can be ordered from NCDC.
  • TD-3505: Historical and recent data can be ordered from NCDC.
  • CD-144: Current data are not available from NCDC. However, users that already have CD-144 data can use it with the AERMET algorithms included in EDMS 4.3.
  • HUSWO: Historical and recent data can be ordered from NCDC.
  • SCRAM: Historical data are available from EPA at SCRAM. Choose "Met Data" then "Surface Data." Data are also available from WebMET.
  • SAMSOM: Recent data can be ordered from NCDC. Historical data are also available from WebMET.

Upper-Air Data

Currently, only the TD-6201 and FSL formats are supported for the required twice-daily upper-air soundings.

One of these soundings must occur in the early morning hours. Typically, these soundings occur at 00:00Z and 12:00Z, which does not provide a sounding at the necessary time for many users outside the United States. If a sounding is not available for your location, the Lakes Environmental Upper Air Estimator may be appropriate. Specific guidance regarding the AERMET data requirements are provided in the AERMET User’s Guide.

Previous Releases

  • 5.1.1 (September 2009)
  • 5.1 (September 2008)
  • 5.0.2 (June 2007)
  • 5.0.1 (March 2007)
  • 5.0 (January 2007)
  • 4.5 (June 2006)
  • 4.4 (November 2005)
  • 4.3 (August 2005)
  • 4.21 (March 2005)
  • 4.2 (September 2004)
  • 4.12 (October 2003)
  • 4.1GSE (October 2003)
  • 4.11 (December 2002)
  • 4.1 (October 2002)
  • 4.0 (May 2001)
  • 3.0 (1997)