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VIEWS/TSS An Integrated Systems Solution forAir
Quality and Regional Haze Planning

• Data Acquisition System
• Accepts new data in a wide variety of formats
• Automatically extracts data from online sources
• Records metadata about the source datasets
• Metadata Import System
• Facilitates the entry of new metadata
• Validates new metadata entries
• Maps source metadata to integrated metadata
• Data Import System
• Extracts and scrubs data from the source DB
• Normalizes the data and performs conversions
• Transforms the data into a unified, integrated
  schema
• Verifies, validates, and aggregates imported data
• Loads data into the back-end OLTP system

Integrated Architecture Both VIEWS and TSS are
built upon the same underlying knowledge,
database, software, and hardware infrastructure,
and have been designed to leverage the
contributions and resources of multiple partners,
projects, and systems. Each new feature is
designed to leverage and extend existing software
infrastructure, and to continually build a
reusable framework of code libraries and
information resources that can be used for future
work.
Complementary Goals The two systems utilize the
same architecture but focus individually on
distinct goals to strategically complement each
other. VIEWS functions primarily as a Data
Support System while the TSS is more of a
planner-oriented Decision Support System. Used
together, the two systems exhibit individual
strengths to provide a truly integrated system
of systems.
Introduction
Acquiring, organizing, and analyzing the datasets
necessary for planners to evaluate air quality
and trace emissions sources is a laborious and
costly process that strains already-limited state
and federal resources. Even after such data have
been consolidated and analyzed, using them to
design effective emissions control strategies is
a complex and time-consuming task, requiring
expensive, diverse, and hard-to-use tools, with
results that are usually difficult to integrate
and analyze consistently. To address these issues
and improve air quality decision-making by local,
regional, and national planners, an integrated
systems solution consisting of two distinct
though complementary information systems has been
carefully architected to provide a flexible,
scalable, and extensible infrastructure for
current and future air quality decision-making.

• Online Transaction Processing System (OLTP)
• Functions as the back-end database
• Fully relational and in third normal form
• Used for insert, update, and delete operations
• Data Warehouse Generation System
• Extracts data from the OLTP
• De-normalizes and transforms data
• Loads data into the data warehouse
• Builds indexes on relevant tables
• Archives periodic snapshots of existing data
• Data Warehouse
• Functions as the front-end database
• Designed with a de-normalized star schema
• Used for querying and retrieving data
• Automatically generated from OLTP

End-to-end Data and Decision Support The
components and subsystems that comprise the
overall VIEWS/TSS system are designed to
progressively add value to data as it makes its
way through the system from original source to
end users. Data has a lifecycle of four
identifiable but overlapping stages in VIEWS/TSS
1) Data Collection, where data is initially
imported into the system 2) Processing, where a
number of operations ensure the integrity and
accuracy of the data 3) Analysis, where the data
is explored, visualized, analyzed, and assessed
and finally 4) Decision Support, where end users
utilize the tools and results to make
conclusions, recommendations, and even
regulations based upon their analysis and
assessment of the data. At each stage in this
lifecycle, the value of data to decision-making
is increased and the task of working with the
data is made easier. In addition, considerable
attention has been given to ensure that the
components serving each stage in the lifecycle
are fully interoperable with external systems and
resources in order to enable developers of other
systems to leverage the functionality of
VIEWS/TSS without having to reinvent the wheel.
Components and their code have been designed to
be modular, reusable, flexible, scalable, and
loosely coupled. By carefully architecting and
connecting the components of VIEWS/TSS with end
user requirements and decisions held firmly in
mind, it is intended that with regard to data
value that the sum of the constituent parts
becomes ultimately greater than the whole.
The Visibility Information Exchange Web System
(VIEWS) is an online decision support system
developed to help federal land managers and
states evaluate air quality and improve
visibility in federally-protected ecosystems
according to the requirements of the EPAs
Regional Haze Rule and the National Ambient Air
Quality Standards. VIEWS was recently selected by
the Western Regional Air Partnership (WRAP), a
collaboration of western states, tribes, and
local agencies administered by the Western
Governors Association and the National Tribal
Environmental Council, to serve as the
foundational infrastructure for the WRAPs
Technical Support System (TSS). The TSS is an
extended suite of analysis and planning tools
designed to help planners develop long term
emissions control strategies for achieving
natural visibility conditions in Class I Areas by
2064. The architected combination of VIEWS and
the TSS represents an integrated system that
supports a unique synergy of national and
regional air quality objectives by providing a
consolidated suite of data access and
decision-making tools to planners, researchers,
stakeholders, and policy makers.

VIEWS/TSS Online Exploration, Visualization,
and Analysis Tools
Database Query Wizard For selecting, filtering,
formatting, and downloading raw data in a variety
of formats from the Integrated Database.
Aerosol Trends Tool Annual timelines for
aggregations such as the best and worst 20
sampled visibility days, annual mean, etc.
Back Trajectory Browser ATAD back trajectories
with charts of best and worst 20 sampling days
by aerosol extinction, reconstructed fine mass,
or reconstructed total mass. 
Aerosol Composition Tool Aerosol composition
charts with best and worst 20 sampled visibility
days, annual mean, etc.

Future Plans and Goals To further leverage the
capabilities of VIEWS/TSS, the project team
collaborated in mid-2007 with the Institute for
the Environment at the University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill to submit a NASA ROSES
proposal to incorporate NASA satellite data into
the VIEWS/TSS integrated database in order to
enhance the decision support capabilities of
these combined systems. The proposal was awarded
in early 2008 and work will soon begin to further
expand VIEWS/TSS with relevant satellite data and
the appropriate tools to access and analyze it.
In the near future, the development team will be
expanding the VIEWS/TSS database with additional
pollutant indicators such as Ozone, CO2, and fire
data, as well as extending the geographic
coverage of the system to including international
pollutant and transport data. Data and
functionality from the WRAP Fire Emissions
Tracking System and Emissions Data Management
System will also be integrated, and design
collaboration with the EPA will
continue. Conclusion VIEWS/TSS is an integrated
systems solution that provides a large inventory
of observational, modeled, and emissions data and
the online end-user tools for exploring and
analyzing this data. All data, tools, and other
resources on the VIEWS and TSS websites are
freely accessible. No account is required to use
the sites, but users are encouraged to register.
User feedback is welcomed, and the development
team is committed to continually improving and
expanding the end user experience.
Spatial Seasonal Pattern Analysis Annual
spatial patterns of PM2.5, light extinction, and
the contributions of major aerosol types
seasonal bar charts frequency distributions of
aggregations.
Long Term Trends Analysis Long term trends of
fine mass and major aerosol types light
extinction and the contribution of major aerosol
types to light scattering for each monitoring
site.
Dynamic Contour Maps Contour (isopleth) maps of
network-wide parameter concentrations with
several interpolation algorithms.
Visibility Photographs Webcams Webcams and
photos that show vistas and corresponding air
quality conditions from rural and urban sites.

• VIEWS URL http//vista.cira.colostate.edu/views
• TSS URL http//vista.cira.colostate.edu/tss
• Location Cooperative Institute for Research in
  the Atmosphere (CIRA), Colorado State University,
  Foothills Campus, Fort Collins, CO 80523-1375
• Sponsors Western Regional Air Partnership,
  National Park Service, Environmental Protection
  Agency, EPA Regional Planning Organizations
  (RPOs)
• Platform Windows Server 2003, .Net Framework,
  SQL Server 2005, Internet Information Server

Regional Haze Planning Tools A variety of
analysis tools designed to assist SIP/TIP writers
in Regional Haze Planning.
Source Apportionment Tools PM Source
Apportionment Technology (PSAT) tools used to
trace Sulfur/SOx and Nitrate/NOx from source
regions to Class I areas.
Organic Aerosol Tracer Tool Analysis tool for
distinguishing between various types of organic
aerosol modeled to arrive at Class I areas.
Emissions Review Tool A tool to view emissions
data from Base and Projected Emissions scenarios.

Contacts Technical Contact Shawn McClure, CIRA,
Colorado State University mcclure_at_cira.colostate.
edu VIEWS Administrative Contact Bret Schichtel,
National Park Service schichtel_at_cira.colostate.ed
u TSS Administrative Contact Tom Moore, Western
Governors Association mooret_at_cira.colostate.edu