Work due 31 Dec 2015

Timeseries Countries should improve data availability in Airbase, in terms of the yearly coverage. A suggestion would be that for stations that have recently been included in Airbase, also the past data could be uploaded, if available. A continuous problem is that stations close down and therefore timeseries become redundant as new stations must be used. Pollutants In terms of the pollutant coverage, all countries should ensure that there is at least one station of each type in Airbase, for the largest urban agglomeration and measuring all “basic” pollutants such as NO x , CO, PM 10 , SO 2 . In this analysis NO 2 has been used instead of NO x due to the lack of available data. When looking at traffic contribution, it would be more appropriate to study NO x data, so improvement in this direction would also be necessary. Furthermore, as scientific evidence indicates that PM 2.5 form the largest part of the PM 10 measured at traffic stations, it should become obligatory for the member states to measure PM 2.5   in urban agglomerations, namely at traffic stations. The new Directive on ambient air quality and cleaner for Europe (Directive 2008/50/EC) sets target and limit values for PM 2.5 and is expected to increase the availability and submission of such data to Airbase, enabling its consideration in future indicator analysis. Other data Meteorological data is needed in order to estimate the meteorologically induced variation in the concentrations observed. Member States should be encouraged to submit such data to a relevant database, perhaps Airbase could be extended to include such information also, as it is always needed in an air quality analysis. Station information in Airbase It is not sufficient to just know the station type but rather it is necessary to understand the geometry of the area the station is located in and also where within the urban area (in relation to major roads and significant industrial sources) it is located. Such data is requested by Airbase, but following the EoI decision, it is not obligatory for the MS to deliver this data. It is important that countries submit this type of data, as this would greatly help with this type of analysis. Spatial coverage Based on measurements, spatial coverage of all EEA member countries is not possible. This can only be done with the assistance of models. In order to draw conclusions for the urban areas as a whole (and not station specific conclusions) using measurements only, adequate coverage in terms of number of stations is necessary. This is not the case for the urban areas at present. Other transport modes Based on available measurements, only road transport can be considered in this analysis.