Development and deployment of AQUIS: A PC-based emission inventory calculator and air information management system

The Air Quality Utility Information System (AQUIS) is a database management system. AQUIS assists users in calculation emissions, both traditional and toxic, and tracking and reporting emissions and source information. With some facilities having over 1200 sources and AQUIS calculating as many as 125 pollutants for a single source, tracking and correlating this information involve considerable effort. Originally designed for use at seven facilities of the Air Force Material Command, the user community has expanded to over 50 facilities since last reported at the 1993 Air and Waste Management Association (AWMA) annual meeting. This expansion in the user community has provided an opportunity to test the system under expanded operating conditions and in applications not anticipated during original system design. User feedback is used to determine needed enhancements and features and to prioritize the content of new releases. In responding to evolving user needs and new emission calculation procedures, it has been necessary to reconfigure AQUIS several times. Reconfigurations have ranged from simple to complex. These changes have necessitated augmenting quality assurance (QA) and validation procedures.