| Sector | Air quality | ||||||
| Description | Concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM) and ozone (O3) evaluated as averages or percentiles to be comparable with WHO guidelines and EU limit values. Emissions data describing the historical time-period have been obtained from EMEP, national and regional authorities. The emission data used for future scenarios is based on IASA projections. |
||||||
| End User | Environmental authorities, air quality consultants, urban planners | ||||||
| Calculation method | ID | Title | Period | Statistical processing | Unit | Threshold | Comment |
| cEUNO2hourly | 99.8th percentile of hourly NO2 concentration |
yearly | 99.8th percentile of hourly averages during a year (same as 18 exceedances per year) |
µg m-3 | 200 µg m-3 |
EU limit value | |
| cEUNO2yearly | Yearly average NO2 concentration |
yearly | Average | µg m-3 | 40 | EU limit value | |
| cEUPM2.5yearly | Yearly average PM2.5 concentrations |
yearly | Average | µg m-3 | 25 | EU limit value | |
| cEUPM10yearly | Yearly average PM10 concentrations |
yearly | Average | µg m-3 | 40 | EU limit value | |
| cEUPM10daily | 90th percentile of daily average PM10 concentrations |
90th percentile of daily averages during a year (same as 35 exceedances per year) |
µg m-3 | 50 | EU limit value | ||
| cEUO3daily | 93.15th percentile of daily max of 8-hour running averages of ozone concentration |
yearly | 93.15th percentile of max of 8- hour running averages (same as 25 exceedances per year) |
µg m-3 | 120 | EU target value | |
| cO3SOMO35 | SOMO35 | yearly | Sum of excess of max daily 8- hour averages over 35 ppb (= 70 µg m-3) calculated for all days in a year; SOMO35 (Sum Of Means Over 35 ppb) |
days*µg m-3 | 35 ppb | WHO indicator | |
| Provenance | These indicators are based on output from the MATCH model | ||||||
| Validation | The downscaling made by MATCH in Urban SIS has been validated against observations in Urban SIS deliverable 5.2, where an overview is given in Table 4. | ||||||
| Calculation caveats | Spatial representation: S2 Other caveats: O5 Could be compared to: Could be used with: |
||||||
| Motivation | EU air quality limit/target values are an essential legal instrument for air quality management in Europe. The ozone indicator SOMO35 defined by WHO is an exposure metric used as a basis for health impact assessments. The presented exposure estimates are used as a basis for the air quality health impact indicators. A large part of the population is exposed to the urban background concentration of air pollutants. The urban background concentration is used for indicators related to population exposure and health impact due to air pollution. The concentration indicators provide an overview of the concentrations and can for example be used to identify areas with air pollution exceeding or getting close to the air quality limits or guidelines. |
||||||
| Experience user | |||||||
| References |
Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 21 May 2008 summarized at http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/standards.htm WHO 2005: Air quality guidelines. Global update 2005. Particulate matter, ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide. ISBN 92 890 2192 6. |
||||||