EUKN - European Urban Knowledge Network - AIRforALL: developing a forecasting system for air pollution

AIRforALL: developing a forecasting system for air pollution – Baia Mare, RO

Introduction

The city of Baia Mare is located in one of Romania’s most polluted areas. The pollution severely affects the health and well-being of its inhabitants. To reduce the occurrence of extreme levels of air pollution in Baia Mare, the AIRforALL project developed an early-warning system. The computerised system integrates meteorological and pollution data to predict extreme local air pollution 24 to 48 hours in advance. This enables the authorities and polluters to inform citizens and take preventive measures. The AIRforALL system piloted in Baia Mare has a high degree of transferability. It has been designed to interact with other AIRforALL systems in a network at regional, national and possibly even European level. In this way, the system can make a significant contribution to improving the urban living environment.

Problem

Due to the presence of two large smelting factories, the city of Baia Mare suffers from high levels of pollution from toxic substances such as sulphur dioxide and lead powder. The city itself is located in one of the most polluted areas in Romania. The mortality caused by air pollution-related diseases is 15 per cent higher than the national average. Local weather conditions further increase the risk of incidences of high pollutant concentrations that accumulate just above the ground level.

The National Administration of Meteorology (NAM) is legally responsible for issuing warnings on adverse weather and ambient pollution. At the start of the project, however, air-quality forecasting was not technically available in Romania, and the NAM had no method of predicting when and where exceptionally high levels of air pollution would occur.

Description

Near the city of Baia Mare in Romania, two large smelting factories are located. In combination with specific local weather conditions, the emissions of these factories cause extreme levels of air pollution. The AIRforALL project developed a system that is able to forecast, alert and issue feedback warnings on the air quality. If the level of ambient pollution is too high, the system encourages the polluter industries to reduce their emissions following a predetermined action plan. It also enables the local environmental protection agency and the Baia Mare municipality to keep the inhabitants up-to-date on the air quality in the city. The National Administration of Meteorology (NAM), which is legally responsible for issuing warnings on ambient pollution also participated in the project.

Approach

The AIRforALL system consists of six components, all of which interact with each other:

emission detection system – monitoring sensors have been installed on the chimneys of the smelting factories and a mobile laboratory can be used to monitor ground gas leaks near polluter sites.
data transmission system - the emission and position data from the sensors and auto laboratory are transmitted via GPS/GSM to the computer servers of the local environmental protection agency and the NAM.
prognostic modelling – the emission data are combined with the meteorological data to calculate the dispersion of pollutants, as well as the trajectories of pollutants.
air quality forecast – a forecast of the spatial impact of the emissions is made with the help of a Geographical Information System (GIS). The GIS provides detailed 3-D maps of the city of Baia Mare in which the results of the prognostic modelling have been incorporated
monitoring of the air quality in Baia Mare – sensors and the mobile laboratory monitor the actual level of air pollution in Baia Mare.
forecast dissemination – via a web-based portal the forecast is disseminated to the local environment protection agency and the Air Pollution Forecast Bureau (APFB). They contact the factories in case the level of pollutants is expected to be exceeded. The Baia Mare municipality and the APFB inform the public of the air quality in the city via interactive touch screens and displays.

Results

The project succeeded in developing a system which, based on remotely processed local meteorological and air-pollution data, is able to forecast ambient air quality with a high degree of accuracy. It has encouraged further cooperation between local environmental protection agencies, the Baia Mare municipality and the NMA. They can now combine their forces with sound scientific data to encourage polluters to minimise their toxic emissions. The AIRforALL system can also be used to develop zoning policies and heavy industry plans. However, the most important long-term criterion for the scheme’s success will be the number of pollution alerts reacted upon by the polluting factories.

EU involvement

The AIRforALL project was co-financed by the LIFE-Environment programme of the European Commission. Total budget was 462,000 euros, of which 201,000 euros were provided by the Commission. AIRforALL was selected as one of the best LIFE-projects finalised in 2005-2006.

Contact info

National Administration of Meteorology
Constantin Ionescu (Project manager)

Project start date

01/11/2001

Links

AIRforALL project website

Document type

case

Themes

Urban Policy > Social inclusion & integration > Quality of life

Keywords

Health