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Introduction to the 10th Harmonisation conference
Helge Rørdam Olesen National Environmental
Research Institute (NERI) Denmark Chairman of
the initiative on Harmonisation within
Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling for Regulatory
Purposes
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Outline

• History
• The forthcoming Air Quality Directive
• How can we pool experiences?

• (Not in proceedings)

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Conference arranged by the Initiative on
Harmonisation within Atmospheric Dispersion
Modelling for Regulatory Purposes
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Background for the kick-off meeting (in Ispra,
1991)

• There was a great number of regulatory models in
  use within Europe.
• Generally, the models applied were not
  scientifically up-to-date.

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• A lack of common standards and tools
• Difficult to make statements on model merits
• Model evaluation and quality assurance are in
  focus

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Background for the kick-off meeting (in Ispra,
1991)

• There was a great number of regulatory models in
  use within Europe.
• Generally, the models applied were not
  scientifically up-to-date.

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Harmonisation

• Not harmonisation in the sense that a single
  model is appointed as the one-and-only.There has
  been no support for a stiff system.
• There are good reasons for having a variety of
  models.
• However, it does makes sense to harmonise certain
  tools, datasets and procedures - and to be able
  to make statements on model merits.
• Very important to pool experiences.

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Forthcoming Directive on Ambient Air Quality
and Cleaner Air
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• The European Commission Thematic Strategy on
  Air Pollution
• Published September 2005
• Outlines
• the environmental objectives for air quality
• measures to be taken to achieve these
  objectives.
• Based on work within
• CAFE Clean Air For Europe
• A programme of technical analysis and policy
  development

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The proposed new Directive on Ambient Air
Quality and Cleaner Air

• States shall undertake assessments of ambient air
  quality with respect to the pollutants referred
  to in Article 5 throughout their territory, in
  accordance with the criteria laid down in
  paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Article.

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Official comment on the proposed new Directive
on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air

• The proposals will require some additional
  monitoring of air quality though the costs
  involved are small and of the order of several
  million Euros. This will improve our
  understanding of air pollution and should permit
  in the longer term a greater use of modelling
  when assessing air quality rather than using more
  expensive monitoring.

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How can it be assured that assessments based on
modelling are considered trustworthy?
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Challenge for the Commission - and the rest of us

• To formulate an operational set of requirements
  for modelling in view of questions such as
• Are models of sufficient quality?
• What is the accuracy of modelling?
• How can it be ensured that models are applied in
  an appropriate manner?
• - and the fact that there are hardly two
  countries which use the same model.

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The Commission receives input through

• A Data Exchange Group established by DG ENV
  through nominations from Member States, EEA,
  ETC/ACC
• Projects such as Air4EU, CityDelta, Street
  Emission Ceilings
• - but is open towards input from others.

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Does your work address the challenge of
defining requirements for models?
A question for all of you
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Central theme underlying the entire conference
How can we pool experiences?How can we
encourage re-use of our work?
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A concept with a strange name

• A wiki

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Wiki

• a website that allows users to to easily create
  web pages and edit pages others have created.
• Wikis are excellent for collaboration, because
  anybody can contribute to web pages.

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Wikipedia.org
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(No Transcript)
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Launching a Wiki onatmospheric dispersion
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Unique features of a wiki web site (1)

• In contrast to traditional web sites, it is
  possible for anyone to contribute easily to its
  contents.
• In contrast to traditional scientific publishing,
  you can add small bits of information - you do
  not have to wait, until you have prepared a
  complete scientific paper.
• In contrast to existing email distribution lists
  the information is archived in a structured
  manner. Furthermore, you can add information on
  findings that are only of interest for a very
  small audience, not for an entire mailing list.

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Unique features of a wiki web site (2)

• Warnings against pitfalls and common mistakes are
  of high interest. My idea is to encourage
  researchers to report on pitfalls they encounter,
  and which they would like to warn others against.
• Many knowledable researchers have pet subjects.
  They possess a vast experience, which newcomers
  to the field lack. On a wiki, experienced
  researchers can in an informal way issue advice
  related to their pet subjects.

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Link to the prototype wiki will be established
from

• www.harmo.org

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Will the Atmospheric Dispersion Wiki survive?

• The objective is to pool experiences on
  atmospheric dispersion in a collaborative
  environment.
• The first version is a prototype. It will be
  revised as needed.
• Possibly it will be difficult to reach the
  necessary critical mass for the site to be of
  interest - but it is worth a try!

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• Feedback on the WIKI idea are very welcome --
  contact me directly.
• After the conference, I will advertise the
  existence of the Wiki more widely - and ask for
  contributions.

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Concluding remarks

• Can we generate input for the Commission in their
  attempts to set up requirements for models?
• Let us pool experiences! We can use this
  conference to announce tools of common interest.
• When you present your work, try to put it into a
  context
• How does your work fit into the overall picure?
  How can it be used by others?