Emissions

The AirQUIS emission module includes templates for import of source data and emission data as well as a modern emission inventory data base with emission models.

The sources of air pollution are divided in three categories:

1) Point sources:
Emissions from single activities of some size, like industries, power plants, incinerators etc., characterised by emissions from single stacks.

2) Line sources:
Emissions from road traffic, streets and high ways.

3) Area sources:
Emissions from open air burning, home heating, public and private services, agricultural activities etc. These may also be converted to grid.

Regardless of being point, line or area distributed, emission data can be retrieved either as direct emission data for different components, or as a set consisting of consumption data and emission factors for the components for different fuels and activity types. The emission data usually comes as yearly data, and a time factor is used to find the fraction of the yearly value that is valid for a specific period within the year.

Search Criteria for Emissions
The emission data is easily accessed through search for region, field, line or point data sets. The specific industry is accessed through search criteria such as emission type/consumption type. Road links properties may also be accessed and edited easily through search criteria
By using the functionality search by polygon/rectangle on geographical areas via the map, the user can find/edit information on emission sources.

Congruent with CORINAIR
The user defines the AirQUIS emission and consumption database structure. It has a hierarchical structure containing of different layers with inter relationships. In Norway, emission data is structured by the Norwegian Bureau of Statistics (SSB) and imported directly into AirQUIS by an efficient import wizard. The structure of the SSB is a simplified version of SNAP95.

Functions
The emission module can calculate all combinations of emissions in an area, such as total emissions of a component in selected areas or divided into source categories in a selected time period. The aggregation tool can also be used to obtain selected values such as maximum, minimum, average, sum and selected percentiles.