Research & Development

• Models
• Methods
• Databases

EPA develops models for environmental decision making. A selected list of models is provided.

Search for more models in the CREM Models Knowledge Base.

Models:

• CAPE-OPEN — Computer-Aided Process Engineering, Metal Finishing Facility Pollution Prevention Tool - Chemical process simulation is a design tool that has long been used to determine the best chemical process options. The CAPE-OPEN project defines a common application for chemical process simulation and computer-aided process engineering, thereby creating a process simulation package for the metal finishing industry. This program can easily be applied to other chemical process industries.
  
  
• Center for Subsurface Modeling Support (CSMoS) - CSMoS provides modeling software used to perform site characterization and ground water flow and transport simulations. The models are also used for selecting ground water remediation options at Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) sites, for studying Superfund-related issues, and for determining wellhead protection areas.
  
  
• Center for Exposure Assessment Modeling (CEAM) - The EPA Center for Exposure Assessment Modeling (CEAM) was established in 1987 to meet the scientific and technical exposure assessment needs of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) as well as state environmental and resource management agencies. CEAM provides proven predictive exposure assessment techniques for aquatic, terrestrial, and multimedia pathways for organic chemicals and metals.
  
  
• Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ)
  
  
• CREM Models Knowledge Base - The Council for Regulatory Environmental Modeling (CREM) maintains this Models Knowledge Base which is an inventory of EPA's environmental models. For more information, please visit the CREM Web site.
  
  
• Environmental Assessment Risk Models - This page lists all of NCEA's risk models available on the web, organized alphabetically by risk model title.
  
  
• EPA Models - this site contains links to models that can be found across the agency. This site includes regulatory and business models in addtion to a sampling of environmental models.
  
  
• EPANET - EPANET is software that models water distribution piping systems. It performs extended-period simulations of the hydraulic and water quality behavior within pressurized pipe networks. EPANET was developed to help water utilities maintain and improve the quality of water delivered to consumers through distribution systems. It can be used to design sampling programs, study disinfectant loss and by-product formation, conduct system vulnerability and consumer exposure assessments, and to improve a system’s hydraulic performance.
  
  
• Exposure Research Models - EPA conducts research on the extent and nature of exposure of humans and the nation's ecosystems to environmental pollutants and other stressors. This page lists some of the models that show potential exposure of humans and ecosystems.
  
  
• Highway Vehicle Particulate Emission Modeling Software — PART5 - This is EPA's most up-to-date model for estimating particulate emissions from highway vehicles. The model analyzes the particulate air pollution effect of in-use gasoline-fueled and diesel-fueled motor vehicles. The model is appropriate for comparative analyses, such as determining the potential impact of one traffic control measure versus another.
  
  
• PARIS II: Computer-Aided Solvent Design for Pollution Prevention (Program for Assisting the Replacement of Industrial Solvents)  PARIS II is software created to address industrial solvents whose continued use raises concern about worker health and about toxins in the environment. This tool identifies pure chemicals or designs chemical mixtures that can serve as alternatives to more hazardous substances currently in use.
  
  
• Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) - SWMM is a dynamic rainfall-runoff simulation model used for single-event or long-term (continuous) simulation of runoff quantity and quality from urban areas. SWMM tracks the quantity and quality of runoff, flow rate, flow depth, and quality of water in each pipe and channel during a simulation period. It can be used for designing urban and highway drainage systems, for Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) floodplain mapping, and for studying sewer inflow and infiltration.
  
  
• Support Center for Regulatory Air Models - This site is a source of information on atmospheric dispersion (air quality) models that support regulatory programs required by the Clean Air Act.
  
  
• Water Quality Models - Tools for simulating the movement of precipitation and pollutants from the ground surface through pipe and channel networks, storage treatment units and finally to receiving waters.