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What is the OS411 series?

Welcome to the OS411 series of self-instructional courses in air quality modeling! Please read this page carefully before beginning any of the courses. A table of contents is provided below to assist with navigating this page!

Table of contents

  1. What is this program?
  2. What are the six courses?
  3. Why were these courses developed?
  4. How do I begin taking a course?
  5. For whom are these courses designed?
  6. How do I register? How do I get credit?
  7. What if I have questions about this program that are not answered here or in the Setup reading?
  8. Registration and Continuing Education (CEU) and Professional Developement Hour (PDH) Credit

What is this program?

The OS411 series consists of six courses presented as an interactive learning opportunity for professionals who wish to develop a solid foundation in the technologies, techniques, and tools of air quality modeling and the use of computational science in air quality analyses.

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What are the six courses?

The six courses are identified by the "OS411" course number, followed by the letters A through F. Each course is a "stand-alone" course: that is, each course is a complete program of instruction. Courses after the first course, however, "build" on each other. In other words, participants are expected to be comfortable with the information presented in OS411A prior to beginning any of the subsequent courses.

The six courses, with brief descriptions, are as follows. More detailed information about each course, including the number of credit hours, is available on the top page of each course:

  1. OS411A, Essential Science for Air Quality Modeling: this course is designed to be a refresher course in the basic principles of chemistry, physics, mathematics, and statistics that are necessary in any study of atmospheric science, meteorology, and air quality modeling. This course is designed to prepare the student for the application of the basic concepts to atmospheric science, meteorology, and air quality modeling analyses.

  2. OS411B, Essential Atmospheric Sciences: this course builds on OS411A, providing a foundation in some of the more basic concepts in atmospheric science, including structure of the atmosphere, atmospheric chemistry and physics, and atmospheric cycles. Students taking this course should have a high comfort level with the basic sciences presented in OS411A.

  3. OS411C, Meteorology for Air Quality Modeling: this course provides the basic foundation needed in meteorology by the air quality modeler. In addition to basic concepts in meteorology, the course also includes readings on numerical weather prediction (NWP) and other meteorological models.

  4. OS411D, Tropospheric Chemistry: this course provides an in-depth description of the chemical species, reaction mechanisms, and characteristics of the atmosphere from a chemist's perspective. Discussions on air quality standards are also presented in this course.

  5. OS411E, Computational Science: this course provides a detailed overview of the technologies, techniques, and tools of computational science. The course looks at different scientific disciplines (or areas) that are studied from a computational perspective, the tools of computational science, and some of the advantages and disadvantages of the use of these methods.

  6. OS411F, Atmospheric Science Models: the final course of the series presents a discussion, using a computational science framework, of some of the more important models historically and currently in use in the atmospheric science field.

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Why were these courses developed?

In 1995, EPA convened a team of air quality modelers, atmospheric scientists, meteorologists, educators and instructional designers, and others with an interest in the professional development of working professionals to design a comprehensive curriculum that would prepare someone to work in the field of air quality modeling. The result of that effort was the creation of a guide entitled "Curriculum Elements for Advanced Air Quality Models". This document was used in 1996 to create two Web-based courses: Computational Atmospheric Sciences and Air Quality Meteorology. Based on the success of those two self-instructional courses, EPA's Air Pollution Training Institute (APTI) looked to expand the breath and depth of those two courses, expanding the offerings from two courses to the present six courses. The new courses also were developed to take advantage of improved technology tools, such as Javascript and Java, dynamic HTML, and specialized web tools such as plug-ins.

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How do I begin taking a course?

Prior to beginning any of these courses, the student should read carefully the reading on Setting up to use the course materials. In this reading, we discuss types of browsers, general navigation guidelines, browser plug-ins, and other important information designed to make your experience more productive and enjoyable. In addition, you can read more about the structure and specific content of each course. An estimate of the time required to take each course is also provided. Back to the top of the page

For whom are these courses designed?

These courses are designed for the working professional, looking to begin his or her education in the area of atmospheric sciences, meteorology, and/or air quality modeling. The courses are designed to provide a self-paced, self-assessed program of instruction. There is no start or stop date: participants work through the materials as they desire. In designing these courses, we envisioned a early- or mid-career professional, with at least a bachelor's degree, probably in science, who has an interest either personally or professionally in the subjects presented in one or more of these courses. Back to the top of the page

How do I register? How do I get credit?

Students not desiring "credit", either in the form of CEUs or PDHs, are not required to register for any of these courses. Students who do wish to receive some type of formal acknowledgement of their completion of one or more courses must register with the Air Pollution Training Institute (APTI). Registration links are provided below:
    If you are employed in the public sector, Register here.
    If you are employed in the private sector, Register here.
    Go to the Adobe web site to download the Acrobat Reader for free.

Students not desiring "credit", either in the form of CEUs or PDHs, are not required to register for any of these courses. Students who do wish to receive some type of formal acknowledgement of their completion of one or more courses (i.e. CEU/PDH credit and/or certificate) must register at one of the links provided below depending on their place of employment.

If you are a United States state, local, or tribal air pollution control official, register with the Air Pollution Training Institute (APTI).

All others who would like credit or acknowledgement for course completion should register with NC State University. Go to the Adobe web site to download the Acrobat Reader for free.

Students desiring credit are provided credit only after successful completion of the 50-question, "closed-book" multiple choice exam. This exam will be sent to your proctor via postal mail after you have completed the course materials. You must secure the services of a proctor who has been approved by the institution with whom you registered. The proctor will administer the exam and return it to the appropriate person for scoring. A minimum grade of 70% is required for credit to be awarded. No "partial" credit or acknowledgement of partial completion of the course modules is provided.

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What if I have questions about this program that are not answered here or in the Setup reading?

You can either consult the "Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)" page, or contact us with your questions!

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