Air quality is an important factor for wellbeing and quality of life. GeoSphere Austria provides daily ozone and particulate matter forecasts, as well as the Air Quality Index.
GeoSphere Austria provides daily ozone and particulate matter forecasts, as well as the air quality index:
Particulate matter: Due to its particle size, particulate matter (PM10) can penetrate deep into the lungs and impair lung function.
Ozone: Unlike ozone high in the atmosphere, which protects us from harmful UV radiation, ground-level ozone is an irritant gas that can affect human lung function.
Air Quality Index: Air pollution levels are divided into six categories ranging from ‘very good’ to ‘extremely poor’. This classification is based on the thresholds of the European Air Quality Index (AQI).
Air
pollution forecasts
The regional air pollution forecasts are based on simulations with the WRF-Chem model. The WRF-Chem model simultaneously simulates meteorology along with emissions, turbulence, transport, and the transformation processes of chemical substances.
Pollutant loads caused by local sources (such as e.g. construction sites) cannot be reproduced by this regional model forecast. Measurements at locally highly polluted locations can therefore deviate significantly from the regional model forecast.
More information on emission data sets
The most important input data for modeling are emissions. Member States of the European Union (EU) are required to report their annual emission totals from various sectors (e.g., transport, industry, etc.). The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) augments and homogenizes these emissions with those from non-EU member states.
GeoSphere Austria's forecasts use the CAMS emission datasets CAMS-GLOB-ANT and CAMS-REG-ANT, which are made available via the ECCAD platform. The emission data are processed for modeling using HERMESv3 ("High-Elective Resolution Modeling Emission System version 3"). Based on the processed emissions and the forecasted weather conditions, WRF-Chem calculates the dispersion of pollutants in the atmosphere.
Latest measurements
Current measured values for various pollutants can be found on the websites of the Environment Agency Austria (Austria-wide) and the European Environment Agency (EU-wide):
