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 The
Air Quality Information System, AirQUIS, represents the
air pollution part of a modern Environmental
Surveillance and Information System, ENSIS.
The
AirQUIS system was developed by institutions dealing
with air pollution, information technology and
geographical information systems (GIS). The combination
of on-line data collection, statistical evaluations and
numerical modelling enable the user to obtain
information, carry out forecasting and future planning
of air quality. The system can be used for monitoring
and to estimate environmental impacts from planned
measures to reduce air pollution.
The
AirQUIS system contains the following modules:
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On-line
measurement system |
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A
measurement system of modern on line sensors for
selected air pollution indicators can be designed
specific for the area concerned.
A
specially designed data logger for meteorology and air
quality is included in the system. The logger is robust
and may serve as a local backup storage in case of line
break down. The measurements are automatically
transferred from the monitoring sites to a central data
base for quality control.
Data
quality control is performed at different levels in the
data collection process; in field during automatic and
manual calibrations and controls, at the central data
collection base, and in the approvals of the final
storage data base, where simple statistics and data
graphics are used to check the validity and
representativity of the data.
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The
emission inventory database |
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A
modern data base for the air pollution emission
inventory has been developed. The emission module is a
flexible system containing a user friendly map oriented
interphase to treat the main sources for emission to air
such as industry, traffic, energy (consumption of fossil
fuels) and emissions related to other mobile sources
such as airport and harbour activities.
The
industry emission module allows the user to select
sources related to specific activities or areas. The
time variation of emissions can be entered specific for
each source or for groups of sources. Based on emission
factors, emissions can be calculated from consumption
data.
The
traffic module is the most complex part of the emission
module, includes road types and fasades, vehicle type
distribution, traffic time variation and emission
factors dependent on parameters such as vehicle type,
traffic speed and road type.
The
emission inventory database is developed for
applications in databases such as Access on PC or Sybase
and Oracle on Unix work stations.
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Atmospheric
dispersion models |
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The
models included in the AirQUIS system covers air
pollution on all scales; traffic in street canyons and
along roads, industrial emissions, gridded pollution
from household etc. within the urban areas and on a
regional scale.
The
NILU developed source oriented numerical dispersion
model EPISODE calculates spatial distribution of hourly
concentrations of SO2, NOX, NO2 and suspended particles.
The NILU models ROADAIR and CONTILENK are used to
estimate subgrid concentrations close to roads within
the square grid. A puff-trajectory model is used to
calculate the influence of point sources.
All
model results are displayed by using GIS such as ArcInfo/ArcView.
The models are running on Unix work station. The
presentation of results can be operated both on PC and
Unix platforms.
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Exposure |
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Based
on concentration calculations and population
distribution, exposure estimates for human health can be
performed. The exposure estimates can be related to air
quality guidelines or other air quality indicators used
for the component considered.
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The
Geographical Information System |
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A
geographical information system based upon ArcInfo and
ArcView are used as a platform for integrating the
presentation of measurements, emission inventory and
results from model estimates. The geographical
information system is directly linked to the data bases,
from which statistical evaluations, graphical
presentations and spatial distributions of emissions and
model results can be presented.
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Air
Quality Planning |
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One
main application of the AirQUIS system will be as an
effective tool for air quality abatement strategy. The
contribution of air pollution from different source
categories such as traffic, household and industry to
the population exposure in an urban area can be
calculated based upon data on emissions, dispersion and
population distribution. Different recommended measures
to reduce air pollution can be evaluated due to
population exposure and cost-benefit or cost-efficiency
analyses. A priority list of the selected measures can
be developed, taking into account air pollution
exposure, health aspects and related costs.
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