AirBase - The European air quality database

Andorra — Feb 18, 2010

Austria — Feb 18, 2010

Belgium — Feb 18, 2010

Bosnia and Herzegovina — Feb 18, 2010

Bulgaria — Feb 18, 2010

Croatia — Feb 18, 2010

Cyprus — Feb 18, 2010

Czech Republic — Feb 18, 2010

Denmark — Feb 18, 2010

Estonia — Feb 18, 2010

Finland — Feb 18, 2010

France — Feb 18, 2010

Germany — Feb 18, 2010

Greece — Feb 18, 2010

Hungary — Feb 18, 2010

Iceland — Feb 18, 2010

Ireland — Feb 18, 2010

Italy — Feb 18, 2010

Latvia — Feb 18, 2010

Liechtenstein — Feb 18, 2010

Lithuania — Feb 18, 2010

Luxembourg — Feb 18, 2010

Malta — Feb 18, 2010

Macedonia, Former Yugoslav Rep — Feb 18, 2010

Norway — Feb 18, 2010

Netherlands — Feb 18, 2010

Poland — Feb 18, 2010

Portugal — Feb 18, 2010

Romania — Feb 18, 2010

Slovakia — Feb 18, 2010

Slovenia — Feb 18, 2010

Serbia — Feb 18, 2010

Spain — Feb 18, 2010

Sweden — Feb 18, 2010

Switzerlands — Feb 18, 2010

Turkey — Feb 18, 2010

United Kingdom — Feb 18, 2010

All countries XML file — Feb 18, 2010

AirBase stations — Feb 18, 2010

AirBase statistics — Feb 18, 2010

AirBase data products on EEA Data Service — Feb 22, 2010

AirBase measurement configurations — Feb 18, 2010

AirBase stations (KMZ format) — Feb 18, 2010

Known problems in AirBase v4 — Mar 23, 2010

Known problems in AirBase v4 - missing statistics — Mar 23, 2010

INSPIRE compliant metadata set — Apr 22, 2010

Related content

Figures produced

Indexed trends in air quality Indexed trend in annual mean urban air quality over the period 1997-2008 (reference year 1997). All urban and suburban background stations operational (that is at least reporting over 9 years with a yearly coverage of at least 274 days) during the period 1997-2008 are included. A general, Europe-wide averaged picture is shown, with a bias towards regions with high station density.

Years of life lost (YOLL) in EEA countries due to PM2.5 pollution, 2005 Health impact caused by exposure top PM2.5.

Distance-to-target for the environmental objectives set for the protection of human health, 2008 Frequency distribution of the ozone 26th highest maximum daily running 8-hour mean; the target value set in the AQ Directive is 120 ug/m3 (reference period 2008; based on all available operational ozone stations reported to AirBase)

Natural and environmental assets The maps show the natural and environmental assets for the EU-27.

Percentage of urban population resident in areas where pollutant concentrations are higher than selected limit/target values, EEA member countries, 1997-2008 The rationale for selection of pollutant and corresponding limit/target values for CSI 004 is given in the justification for indicator selection. Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations. Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey are not included due to the geographical coverage of the Urban Audit and/or lack of air quality data.

Percentage of urban population resident in areas for days per year with SO2 concentration exceeding daily limit value, EEA member countries, 1997-2008 The limit value is 125 µg SO2/m³ as a daily mean, not to be exceeded more than three days in a year. Over the years 1997-2008 the total population for which exposure estimates are made, increases from 57 to 97 million people due to an increasing number of monitoring stations reporting under the Exchange of Information Decision. Year-to-year variations in exposure classes are partly caused by the changes in spatial coverage. Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations. Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey are not included due to the geographical coverage of the Urban Audit and/or lack of air quality data.

4th highest 24-hour mean SO2 concentration observed at (sub)urban stations, EEA member countries, 1997-2008 Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations. Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey are not included due to the geographical coverage of the Urban Audit and/or lack of air quality data.

26th highest maximum daily 8-hour mean ozone concentration observed at (sub)urban background stations, EEA member countries, 1997-2008 Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations. Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey are not included due to the geographical coverage of the Urban Audit and/or lack of air quality data.

Percentage of urban population resident in areas for days per year with ozone concentrations over the target value set for protection of human health, EEA member countries, 1997-2008 The target value is 120 µg O3/m³ as daily maximum of 8 hour mean, not to be exceeded more than 25 days per calendar year, averaged over three years. Over the years 1997-2008 the total population for which exposure estimates are made, increases from 49 to 114 million people due to an increasing number of monitoring stations reporting under the Exchange of Information Decision. Year-to-year variations in exposure classes are partly caused by the changes in spatial coverage. Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations. Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey are not included due to the geographical coverage of the Urban Audit and/or lack of air quality data.

Annual mean NO2 concentration observed at (sub)urban background stations, EEA member countries, 1997-2008 Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations. Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey are not included due to the geographical coverage of the Urban Audit and/or lack of air quality data.

Percentage of population exposed to NO2 annual concentrations in urban areas, EEA member countries, 1997-2008 The annual mean limit value is 40 µg NO2/m³. Over the years 1997-2008 the total population, for which exposure estimates are made, increased from 55 to 118 million people due to an increasing number of monitoring stations reporting air quality data under the Exchange of Information Decision. Year-to-year variations in exposure classes are partly caused by the changes in spatial coverage. Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations. Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey are not included due to the geographical coverage of the Urban Audit and/or lack of air quality data.

36th highest 24-hour mean PM10 concentration observed at (sub)urban background stations, EEA member countries, 1997-2008 Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations. Data for Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, and Turkey are not included due to the geographical coverage of the Urban Audit and/or lack of air quality data.

Percentage of urban population resident in areas for days per year with PM10 concentration exceeding daily limit value, EEA member countries, 1997-2008 The limit value is 50 µg PM10/m³ (24 hour average, i.e. daily), not to be exceeded more than 35 times a calendar year. Over the years 1997-2008 the total population for which exposure estimates are made, increases from 25 to 111 million people due to an increasing number of monitoring stations reporting air quality data under the Exchange of Information Decision. Year-to-year variations in exposure classes are partly caused by the changes in spatial coverage. Only urban and sub-urban background monitoring stations have been included in the calculations.

AirBase - Exchange of information Location of stations for which 2008 air quality data for components O3, PM10, NO2, SO2, C6H6, PM2.5, Pb, CO have been reported. Observed concentration maps for which 2008 air quality data for components O3, PM10, NO2, SO2, C6H6, PM2.5, CO have been reported.

AirBase - Raw data and time series Each plot presents 1 time series of raw data for a time span of eleven years: from 1 Jan 1997 until 31 Dec 2008

PM10 mean and maximum values of annual averages for traffic and urban background stations Station pairs from capital cities were preferred, but when not available the next largest city for which data was available was chosen

NO2 mean and maximum values of annual averages for traffic and urban background stations Station pairs from capital cities were preferred, but when not available the next largest city for which data was available was chosen

Used in indicators

Exposure of ecosystems to acidification, eutrophication and ozone The indicator shows the ecosystem or crops areas at risk of exposure to harmful effects of ozone as a consequence of air pollution, and shows the state of change in acidification, eutrophication and ozone levels of the European environment. The risk is estimated by reference to the 'critical level' for ozone for each location, this being a quantitative estimate of the exposure to these pollutants below which significant and harmful effects do not occur in the long term at present knowledge. The fraction of agricultural crops that is potentially exposed to ambient air concentrations of ozone in excess of the EU target value and long-term objective set for the protection of vegetation is also shown. Eutrophication and acidification Critical loads of acidity and of nutrient nitrogen are employed to describe exposure to acidification and to eutrophication for forests and semi-natural areas in Europe, including Natura 2000 sites. The area where the deposition of acidifying and eutrophying pollutants is in exceedance of critical loads provides also an indication of the extent of European ecosystem area which is at risk of damage to biodiversity. By analysing the change of exceedances over time (comparative static analysis) an indication of the effects of changing air pollutant emissions over time is obtained. The magnitude of the exceedance (deposition minus critical load) is an important input to the dynamic modelling of time delays in damage. Inversely, once critical loads are no longer exceeded, recovery may take some time as well. By including the risk to be met within a legislative target and year the distance from this target can be evaluated. Ozone AOT40 is 'Accumulated ozone exposure over a threshold of 40 ppb'. The indicator shows the ecosystem or crop areas at risk of exposure to harmful levels of ozone as a consequence of air pollution. The risk is estimated by referring to the 'critical level' of ozone for sensitive areas. Thus, the indicator is a quantitative estimate of the exposure to ozone below which significant and harmful effects do not occur in the long term according to present knowledge. The fraction of agricultural crops that is potentially exposed to ambient air concentrations of ozone in excess of the EU target value set for the protection of vegetation is also shown.

Exceedances of air quality objectives due to traffic The indicator compares concentrations at background stations to those at traffic stations. This comparison provides an estimate of the increased levels of air pollution that the population is exposed to when accessing areas with increased road traffic, as well as a measure of the impact of the technical and non-technical measures adopted to reduce the contribution of the road transport sector to the observed concentrations.  The indicator makes use of the data submitted to Airbase. Data permitting, a pan-European coverage is attempted and the indicator focuses on selected station pairs (traffic and urban background stations) from capital cities across and where data in capital cities is not available the next largest city is chosen. Values are presented for single monitoring stations that provide reliable time series data for the period 2000 to 2010. Selected cities have at least one background and one traffic station that provide such reliability and can therefore be compared for analysis. Therefore, this figure does not represent air quality results citywide, but rather serves as a snapshot of the different trends in background and traffic stations wherever comparable long-term time-series data are available. Because the different lines represent individual measurement points, there can be a significant effect from local changes in traffic flows. The annual average difference between concentrations at specific traffic and urban background stations for cities across Europe over a number of years is highlighted and the relevant contribution of traffic is discussed.

Exceedance of air quality limit values in urban areas The indicator shows the fraction of the urban population that is potentially exposed to ambient air [1] concentrations of pollutants [2] in excess of the EU limit value set for the protection of human health. The urban population considered is the total number of people living in cities with at least one monitoring station at a background location. The population data applied for the indicator derives from the Urban Audit , which is conducted at the initiative of the Directorate-General for Regional Policy at the European Commission, in cooperation with Eurostat and the national statistical offices of the 27 current Member States. Currently, the Urban Audit involve more than 620 European cities in 30 EEA member countries. The Urban Audit contains data for over 250 indicators across nine domains (e.g. demography, social aspects, environment, travel and transport). The Urban Audit aims at a balanced and representative sample of cities in Europe. To obtain such a selection, a few simple rules are applied: 1. Approximately 20% of the national population should be covered by the Urban Audit. 2. All capital cities were included. 3. Where possible, regional capitals were included. 4. Both large (more than 250 000 inhabitants) and medium-sized cities (minimum 50 000 and maximum 250 000 inhabitants) were included. 5. The selected cities should be geographically dispersed within each Member State. The selection of cities was prepared in close collaboration between the Directorate-General for Regional Policy, Eurostat and the national statistical institutes. To ensure that large and medium-sized cities are equally represented in the Urban Audit, in some of the larger Member States not all large cities could be included. The Urban Audit works with three different spatial levels: the core city, the larger urban zone (LUZ) and the sub-city district (SCD). For CSI 004 only the the core city level is considered, which is the most important level. To ensure that this level is directly relevant to policy makers and politicians, political boundaries were used to define the city level. In many countries these boundaries are clearly established and well-known. As a result, for most cities the boundary used in the Urban Audit corresponds to the general perception of that city. Due to the highly diverse nature of political boundaries in the European Union, for some cities the political boundary does not correspond to the general perception of that city. In a few cities, Dublin for example, the political boundary of the city is narrower than the general perception of that city. Exceedance of air quality limit values occurs when the concentration of air pollutants exceeds the limit values specified in the first Daughter Directive of the Air Quality Framework Directive for SO 2 , PM 10 [3], NO 2 and the target values for O 3 as specified in the third Daughter Directive. Where there are multiple limit values (see section on Policy Targets), the indicator uses the most stringent case: Sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ): the daily limit value; Nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ): the annual limit value; Particulate matter (PM 10 ): the daily limit value; Ozone (O 3 ): the target value. [1] 'Ambient air' shall mean outdoor air in the troposphere, excluding work places. [2] 'pollutant' shall mean any substance introduced directly or indirectly by man into the ambient air and likely to have harmful effects on human health and/or the environment as a whole. [3] 'PM 10 ' shall mean particulate matter which passes through a size-selective inlet with a 50 % efficiency cut-off at 10 microgram aerodynamic diameter.

Exposure of ecosystems to acidification, eutrophication and ozone (version 1) The indicator shows the ecosystem or crops areas at risk of exposure to harmful effects of acidification, eutrophication and ozone as a consequence of air pollution, and shows the state of change in acidification, eutrophication and ozone levels of the European environment. The risk is estimated by reference to the 'critical load' for acidification and eutrophication and 'critical level' for ozone for each location, this being a quantitative estimate of the exposure to these pollutants below which significant and harmful such effects do not occur in the long term at present knowledge. Two critical loads, for acidity and for nutrient nitrogen, are employed to describe exposure to acidification and to eutrophication respectively. The area over which the deposition of acidifying and eutrophying pollutants is in exceedance of critical loads provides an indication of the ecosystem area in which such damage could occur. The magnitude of the potential risk is displayed as the percentage of total ecosystem areas exposed to exceedence of these critical loads.  By showing the change in risk over time, the state of change in acidification and eutrophication is displayed. By including the risk to be met within a legislative target and year the distance from this target is displayed. The fraction of agricultural crops  that is potentially exposed to ambient air concentrations of ozone in excess of the EU target value set for the protection of vegetation is also shown.

Exceedance of air quality limit values in urban areas (version 1) The indicator shows the fraction of the urban population that is potentially exposed to ambient air (1) concentrations of pollutants (2) in excess of the EU limit value set for the protection of human health. The urban population considered is the total number of people living in cities with at least one monitoring station. Exceedance of air quality limit values occurs when the concentration of air pollutants exceeds the limit values specified in the first Daughter Directive of the Air Quality Framework Directive for SO 2 , PM 10 (3), NO 2 and the target values for O 3 as specified in the third Daughter Directive. Where there are multiple limit values (see section on Policy Targets), the indicator uses the most stringent case: Sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ): the daily limit value; Nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ): the annual limit value; Particulate matter (PM 10 ): the annual limit value; Ozone (O 3 ): the short term objective.   (1) "Ambient air" shall mean outdoor air in the troposphere, excluding work places. (2) "pollutant" shall mean any substance introduced directly or indirectly by man into the ambient air and likely to have harmful effects on human health and/or the environment as a whole. (3) "PM 10 " shall mean particulate matter which passes through a size-selective inlet with a 50 % efficiency cut-off at 10 m g aerodynamic diameter.