CAT Platform User Documentation

Welcome to the CAT (Climate Action in Transportation) Platform! This documentation will help you navigate and use the platform to analyze transportation emissions data for your planning and analysis needs.

What is the CAT Platform?

The CAT Platform is a web-based platform that helps transportation planners, air quality analysts, and conformity analysts estimate and analyze transportation emissions. The platform provides:

  • Emissions Modeling: Submit orders to run MOVES (Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator) models for your geographic areas
  • Data Visualization: Create interactive charts and maps of emissions data
  • Scenario Analysis: Estimate how emissions change when you adjust transportation activity
  • Report Generation: Create professional Word document reports for presentations and documentation
  • Data Access: Download emissions data in bulk or view it through interactive tools

Quick Start

  1. Create an Account - Sign up for a free account
  2. Create Your First Order - Submit an emissions modeling order for a county
  3. View Your Results - Check order status and download data
  4. Visualize Your Data - Explore your results with interactive charts and maps

Platform Overview

Core Features

Order Management (Cloud MOVES)

  • Creating Orders: Submit emissions modeling requests for specific counties and years through Cloud MOVES
  • Viewing Orders: Track order status, download results, and manage your data from Cloud MOVES
  • Publishing Data: Share verified results to the public CAT Grand Database

Analysis Tools

  • Visualizer: Interactive charts, maps, and visualizations of emissions data
  • Calculator: Estimate emissions changes by adjusting activity measures (VMT, vehicle counts, etc.)
  • Reporter: Generate professional Word document reports with charts and data
  • Aggregator: Compare emissions data across multiple counties side-by-side
  • Data Hub: Download large datasets in bulk from the CAT Grand Database

Advanced Features

Understanding the Platform

What is an "Order"?

An order is a request to run emissions modeling for a specific geographic area (county) and year through the Cloud MOVES system. Cloud MOVES is the distributed computing infrastructure that processes MOVES emissions calculations. When you create an order:

  1. You select a county (using FIPS code or county name) and year
  2. Optionally, you can upload custom MOVES input files to customize the modeling
  3. Cloud MOVES processes your order (typically takes 5-10 minutes)
  4. Results are available for download and visualization

Geographic Areas

The platform uses FIPS codes (Federal Information Processing Standards) to identify counties. For example:

  • Tompkins County, NY = FIPS code 36109
  • Los Angeles County, CA = FIPS code 06037

You can search by county name or enter the FIPS code directly.

Data Sources

  • Your Orders: Custom emissions modeling results from your submitted orders
  • CAT Grand Database: Publicly available emissions data from verified published orders
  • Default MOVES Data: Standard activity and emissions factors used in calculations

Getting Help

Next Steps: If you're new to the platform, start with Getting Started. If you're ready to create your first order, see Creating Orders.