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Index
AirBase Viewer allows you to query AirBase and visualise air quality data in the form of maps (meta or statistic data) , graphs (statistic data) or tables (meta information). The AirBase Viewer application provides methods for filtering out stations by location (country), type (background, industrial, traffic, unknown), type of area (rural, suburban, urban, unknown) and components measured by the stations in a given annual period.
The filtered stations are shown as triangles on the map. In the Station list tab a table is available with meta data belonging to the filtered stations. Station meta data and statistic data can be downloaded from the download tab after performing a geographic selection on the stations. In the download tab a table shows examples of the tabular data.
The data can also be explored as graphs, either with several stations on one graph, or data from a single station.
There exist four map viewers for AirBase:
The Air quality reporting stations viewer is used to query data from stations for multiple components and/or several years. Filter out stations by selecting countries, types of stations, types of areas, years and components of interest. The stations with data fulfilling the criteria are shown on the map and listed in a table. The initial map in the Air quality reporting stations viewer shows all stations with data in the AirBase database.
The Air quality statistics viewer visualizes statistic data values for a particular component, in a given year. The stations can be filtered by country, type and area as well. The initial map in the Air quality statistics viewer shows all stations with data fulfilling the parameters in the Map Value Parameter window, e.g. annual mean values based on the daily average for Nitrogen dioxide (air) in 2005.
The Air Quality Map viewer shows interpolated maps for various pollutants and the underlying station measurement data. The maps can be toggled in the window 'Select Air Quality Map'.
The Zones in relation to EU air quality thresholds viewer shows maps of zone boundaries of zone boundaries for the air quality management zones reported for 2006 (2007 questionnaire). The maps can be toggled in the window 'Select Zone Map'.
The Overview Map of Europe draws a rectangle around the area shown on the main map when zoomed in. The slider can be used to zoom in/out on the main map.
The map legend can be explored in the map legend window. In the Air quality reporting stations viewer the stations are coloured according to their type. In the Air quality statistics viewer the station triangles are gradually coloured according to the statistic value. In the Air quality statistics viewer, the legend intervals can be defined by the user See more in ''Edit Legend''.
In the Find Location window searches on place names, postcodes, station names and European station codes can be performed. Choose 'place' as primary search area when searching for postcodes or place names, e.g. city names and 'station' as primary search area when searching for station names or codes.
The search results are numbered and listed and markers on the map have corresponding numbers. When pressing a result in the list, the map zooms to the location.
When hovering over the markers on the map, the name of the place or station is shown.
The purpose of the filter is to decrease the number of data records to download. The filtering can by done by Country, Component, Station type (background, industrial, traffic, unknown), type of area (rural, suburban, urban, unknown) and year in combination.
The filtering concept is the same for the two map viewers, although the Air quality statistics viewer only has three main filters in the 'Filter Options' window.
The Air quality reporting stations viewer shows an overview of the stations and provides five different filtering options: component, country, station type, area and year - the year filter is based on which stations has provided data in one or more of the chosen years.
The Air quality statistics viewer shows stations rendered according to statistic values. Three filtering options are provided, country, station type and area. The year and component are defined in the 'Map Value Parameters' window. The map value parameters defines which statistic values to show on the map. For more about the map value parameters see Air quality statistics at reporting stations section on this page.
The filtering is done in the 'filter options' window in the left pane. The number of stations and statistical entries in the data set after applying the filter is written below the filter list. The selected filter values can be viewed in the text box.
The first step is choosing a main filter. When choosing a main filter a list is generated with the other filters as sub filters.
After choosing 'Filter by Component' the list of mandatory components under the EOI is shown (press other components to see full list of components in AirBase), below the countries, station types, areas and years are listed as sub folders to the folder 'Filter by Components'.
By default stations measuring one or more of the listed components are shown on the map (this is indicated by the tick in 'all components'). At any point one can choose another main filter by pressing 'Main Filter List' that returns to the initial list, or by scrolling to the end of the list and access another filter directly.
When selecting one or more component(s), the sub filter lists are updated to show only the relevant options e.g. countries that measure the component(s). The map is automatically updated according to the filter after a couple of seconds, or by pressing the button 'Query'.
In the screen dump below mercury is selected, and in the countries sub filter list it shows that only two countries have stations measuring this component. The stations are shown on the map.
The Station list tab is a table with all stations in the filter. Each row represents a station. When selecting stations in the table, the selection is shown on the map, and selections performed on the map will select the stations in the list as well.
Additional meta data and a chart showing the statistic data for an individual station can be accessed by pressing the detail icon in the rightmost cell.
The series on the chart can be switched on/off by clicking the checkboxes in the legend list to the right. The component can be changed in the drop down box on top of the chart, if the filter contains more than one component. The statistics may be based on different averages, daily, hourly etc. radio buttons below the chart shows what choices there are for the individual component.
The meta data tab in the detail window lists station meta data. The table shows what components the station measures, the units, which measurement techniques are used and the time period it has delivered data for the individual component.
In the Download tab the statistic data and station meta data from selected stations in the filter can be downloaded as either CSV or XML.
Example of statistic as CSV (tab separated):
Component Year Avg.time Country EU-code Station MeasurementUnit PercentageVal num_Val 50 percentile 95 percentile 98 percentile annual mean maximum Mercury (aerosol) 1999 day BE BE0371A 41MEU1 - MEUDON ng/m3 46.027 168 2.950 4.520 5.410 3.136 7.740 |
The statistic XML downloads can either be formatted as records with limited meta information :
<row Component="Mercury (aerosol)" Year="1999" Avg.time="day" Country="BE" EU-code="BE0371A" Station="41MEU1 - MEUDON" MeasurementUnit="ng/m3" PercentageVal="46.027" num_Val="168"> <value stat="50 percentile:2.950"/> <value stat="95 percentile:4.520"/> <value stat="98 percentile:5.410"/> <value stat="annual mean:3.136"/> <value stat="maximum:7.740"/> </row > |
Or it can be downloaded as XML validated against the eionet airbase dtd Meta information regarding choice of filters is included in the files.
The raw data ASCII files can be downloaded from the provided link. They are grouped by country in zip files.
The properties of station filter are listed after the download links, and below there is a table with example of the statistic data.
Station data can be downloaded or viewed in charts by selecting stations. A preview of the tabular data can be seen in "Data Download" tab.
The stations can be selected by using the identify tool from the toolbox. A single station can be selected by clicking the triangle, while using the identify tool. To select more than one station, drag a square around the stations.
When selecting a single station, a marker with the station details appears on the map. The marker has two tabs, one with meta data and one with and charts depicting the value data. This is similar to the popup that appears when selecting a station from the "Station List" tab. When selecting a station in the Air quality statistics viewer, the exact statistic value can be viewed in the data tab. For more details see Air quality statistics at reporting stations section
When selecting more than one station, the result is pushed to a new tab "Stations Chart". This shows the data from the stations on a chart.
In the series legend list, the series (stations or statistics) can be switched on/off.
Below the graph, the time period on which the statistic is based is set. For the various components, different options appear e.g. hourly, daily and daily 8 hour maximums
If the data coverage is less then 75 %, a red circle appears around point data.
If more than one year is selected, the stations are shown as line series on the chart. Years are on the Y-axis and statistic values are on the X-axis. Two drop down boxes defines what component and what statistic is depicted. At some selections some of the stations are grayed out in the series legend list. This happens when no data for the selected component exist for that station. Choosing another component changes this.
If the data is from a single year a combined bar and plot chart is drawn. The statistics are shown as the series and the stations are depicted on the X-axis. The component can be changed in the drop down box above the graph. The maximum and annual mean values are point data, while the other statistics are drawn as bars.
The Air quality statistics viewer shows station statistic data values on the map. Stations can be filtered according to country, station type and area in the 'Filter Options' window. Only one component and year can be selected at a time, this is done in the 'Map Value Parameters' window.
Change the parameters defining which data values to show on the map. The 'other' check box will load non-mandatory components when ticked on. The year and component chosen acts as part of the station filter.
By default the legend is calculated to show equal distance intervals from 0 to maximum value in data set on the map. The legend can be changed by the user in the 'Edit Legend' window. Press the menu 'Edit' in the legend window to see layers that have editable legends and press the layer name to open the 'Edit Legend' Window.
Choose 'User Defined Legend' and adjust intervals. Press 'Apply' button to update map.
In order to return to the default legend, choose 'Automatically Defined Legend' and 'Apply'.
When selecting a single station in the Air quality statistics viewer, the marker shows the value of the selected component.
When pressing the "show content in tab" link in the upper right corner, a new tab with the marker content is created.
Choose between the Air Quality maps by selecting it from the list.
Turn the station layers on and off by clicking the checkbox to the right of the layer name
As in the Air Quality Map viewer the zone maps can be toggled in the left pane. Each map consists of a map showing the zone values and one layer that can be turned on and off showing the zone boundaries.
When clicking a zone using the identify tool a marker will pop up containing zone code and name as well as the zone value(s).
Send a link to the map to someone using your default mail application or get a link to save as a bookmark in your browser. The map settings and filtering of stations are preserved. In the Air quality statistics viewer, the map value parameters are saved as well.
When following the saved link, at first the map initialises with the default settings, and shortly after it updates with the saved settings.
Following table shows the statistics available for the components in AirBase.
Source: air-climate.eionet.europa.eu
Components and their available statistical parameters | |||
---|---|---|---|
Component | Statistical parameters based on | ||
Hourly values | Daily values | Daily 8-hour maxima | |
Sulphur dioxide SO2) |
• annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • 99.9 percentile • maximum • hours with conc. > 350 µg/m3 • 25th highest value |
• annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum • days with conc. > 125 µg/m3 • 4th highest value |
|
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) |
• annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum • hours conc. > 200 µg/m3 • 19th highest value |
• annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum |
|
Nitrogen monoxide (NO) |
• annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum |
• annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum |
|
Nitrogen oxides (NOx) (b) |
• annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum |
• annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum |
|
Ozone (O3) |
• annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum • AOT40 (a) |
• annual mean | • annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum • days with conc. > 120 µg/m3 • 26th highest value |
Carbon monoxide (CO) |
• annual mean | • annual mean | • annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum |
Particulate matter (PM10) |
• annual mean | • annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum • days with conc. > 50 µg/m3 • 8th highest value • 36th highest value |
|
other | • annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum |
• annual mean • 50 percentile • 95 percentile • 98 percentile • maximum |
Footnotes:
(a) AOT40 value is calculated from hourly values between 8.00 and 20.00 CET from 1 May to 31 July according to the definition in the ozone directive (EU, 2002). In all reports an estimated value corrected for missing values will be presented.
(b) Nitrogen oxides, NOx, are defined as the sum of nitrogen monoxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) added as part per billion and expressed as nitrogen dioxide in µg/m3, that is:
CNOx = 46(CNO / 30 + CNO2 / 46) ,
where CNO and CNO2 are concentrations (in µg/m3) of NO and NO2, respectively, and CNOx is the NOx concentrations in µg NO2-equivalent/m3. In case at a specific station for a specific hour no information on NOx has been submitted but if valid values have been submitted both for NO and NO2, the missing hourly NOx value will be calculated according to above equation.
For references, please go to https://www.eea.europa.eu/themes/air/air-quality/map/airbase/user-guide or scan the QR code.
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