AirQUIS
applications
 Air surveillance and management system
The software system AirQUIS has been adapted to meet the
needs of different clients. The system normally includes
data retrieval, databases, and data presentations, modelling
and air quality management systems. A complete AirQUIS
system is supplied according the client specifications.
This also provides the development of emission
inventories, dispersion models and exposure assessment.
Measurements of air quality and meteorology together with
model results may be presented to evaluate the contribution
from different sources to the air quality of the selected
area. The system has been applied in this mode in Oslo,
Sarpsborg/Fredrikstad and in the Telemark region in Norway,
in Yantai, China in Botswana and is being developed for
Haifa, Israel, Stockholm Sweden and for the Saudi Electric
Co. in Saudi Arabia.
The system may present hourly, daily and monthly
concentration distributions, as well as next-day
predictions, forecasts and early warnings based upon
population exposure. The user-friendly planning tool may,
for example, estimate the change in air quality impact if a
road is closed or transport composition and patterns are
changed, or a factory reduces or changes its emissions.
Environmental Impact Assessment
Regulatory risk assessment in air pollution management
includes a consideration of hazard identification,
exposure-response relationships, exposure assessment and
quantitative risk characterization. Numerical models, which
are part of the AirQUIS system, may estimate the exposure of
harmful pollution to human health, materials and the
ecosystem.
Dose-relationships are being used to evaluate the impact
and to perform a complete impact and damage assessment. For
the environmental impact on buildings and building materials
(Our Cultural Heritage) a sub module of AirQUIS, CorrCOST
has been developed. The system was used in Norway to
evaluate the economic impact of air pollution on building
material in Oslo and in other areas of Norway. NILU is
working in co-operation with other research institutes
within the field of environmental impact assessment.
Optimal abatement / Cost-benefit
analyses
The Cost-benefit analyses (CBA) are a highly
interdisciplinary task. The CBA should provide a
benefit-cost ratio based on monetarised costs and benefits,
and be accompanied by a description of the non-monetarised
items that also should be considered.
Monetary valuation of control actions, and of the effects
on health and the environment, may be different in concept
and vary substantially from country to country. NILU has
conducted such CBA of possible measures for reducing the
extent of pollution damage in several major urban areas in
Asia. The World Bank project "URBAIR" was a
forerunner for these analyses. All the various possible
measures are cost estimated and put together in relation to
calculated reductions in air pollution and the consequences
for damage impact.
AQMS
Air Quality Management and Planning System (AQMS) were
established in the city of Guangzhou (6 mill. inhabitants)
in South China. The core of the system was the GIS based
AirQUIS system. The system is applied to develop action
plans for air quality improvement in a cost-efficient
manner. The project was a co-operation effort between the
NORCE consortium of Norwegian institutes (with NILU as the
leading institute) and research and municipal government
institutions in Guangzhou. The nature of the project was
"knowledge and tools transfer. |
