Description dates from 2003
Contents
The Department of Atmospheric Environment at NERI is accredited according to ISO 17025 to make ambient air pollution measurements and test for pesticides in water.
Department strategy
The National Environmental Research Institute (NERI) of Denmark conducts broad based research and development on all aspects of environmental sciences which both extends knowledge at an internationally competitive level and provides the basis for ministerial level policies via research and environmental monitoring, and systems analysis. More than half of NERI’s research activities are conducted at its main campus in Roskilde, while remaining efforts are distributed at smaller campuses in Copenhagen, Silkeborg and Kalø. The Department of Atmospheric Environment is one of nine research departments in NERI, and is located at the campus in Roskilde. The name of the Department is frequently abbreviated to ATMI.
The overall strategy of the Department of Atmospheric Environment is to maintain a vertically integrated research profile (i.e., spanning basic, applied, experimental, modelling, and systems research) which supports the development of leading internationally recognised air pollution modelling and monitoring systems, for both assessment and prognosis.
The main activities of the Department of Atmospheric Environment at NERI are atmospheric research with an emphasis on air pollution, monitoring, models for assessment and prediction, and dissemination of information via various channels. Research activities are categorised according to: urban air pollution; long range transport; deposition; data handling; emissions; and global and climate change. These activities span local, regional, and global scales.
Department of Atmospheric Environment: Scope of work
Air pollution is caused by a complex interaction involving natural and anthropogenic emissions and meteorology. Emissions from industry, traffic, and heating systems represent the primary causes of air pollution, and emissions regulations are therefore designed in order to assure that air pollution levels do not exceed pre-designated limits. The quality of human health, agricultural output, the conditions of forests, and risks of marine eutrophication are all examples of air pollution effects. In order to build scientifically-based models and prediction systems, and provide the best advice to the Ministry of Environment, the scope of work in the Department of Atmospheric Environment focuses on three aspects of the air pollution problem.
First, efforts are placed on building better performing air pollution and assessment model tools, using better parameterizations of the governing atmospheric processes, better data bases, and a better understanding of effects and impacts over all sectors.
Second, monitoring of air pollution levels is carried out, both in order to establish trends and to evaluate the impact of protocols and other government decisions.
Finally, both scientific results and monitoring data are delivered to public, government authorities, and/or scientific societies in a timely way. Regulation and enforcement are tasks within the Danish EPA and municipal authorities, and are therefore not addressed by the Department of Atmospheric Environment.
The Department undertakes mathematical modelling and field measurements of air pollution in a mutually complementary manner. Monitoring data collected under national and international programmes are used in the scientific studies. These endeavours involve collaboration with other NERI departments and outside institutions which have complementary expertise. Funding for these activities is provided by a variety of national and international sources.
The Department's technical expertise is available on a consultancy basis or in the form of co-operation projects together with central and local authorities, both in Denmark and abroad. The Department's activities also include a series of research projects in various frameworks.Furthermore, the Department participates as a technical consultant to Danish, Nordic and European Union authorities in defining air quality guidelines and indicators.
Emissions inventories
At NERI, emission inventories of air pollutants are compiled on a regular basis by the Department of Policy Analysis with assistance from the Department of Atmospheric Environment. The inventories support model development and are delivered to international authorities. Because the emissions data are gathered in response to a variety of international agreements, a variety of temporal and geographical scales is considered. One of the primary customers is the European Environment Agency (EEA).
Related link at NERI: Danish inventories of emissions to the atmosphere
Monitoring activities
Monitoring of the atmospheric concentration and deposition of air pollutants has both regulatory and scientific relevance. Pollution levels in a number of Danish cities have been monitored for several years within the Danish Air Quality Monitoring Programme (Danish abbreviation: LMP), the emphasis originally having been on sulphur dioxide and particulates. In recent years, however, urban levels of these pollutants have decreased as a result of the more widespread use of natural gas, the establishment of district heating and the use of excess heat from power plants. At the same time, the increase in urban car traffic has resulted in increased levels of nitrogen oxides and organic compounds. The emphasis of the monitoring programme has therefore shifted to compounds relevant to photochemical air pollution and carcinogenic pollutants such as PAHs, POPs and VOCs. Particulate matter is also an issue of concern.
A subset of the monitoring data base is placed on the Internet within one day after data collection. These data are freely accessible to all users.
Primary link at NERI: Air quality monitoring in Denmark
Deposition
The Department has been measuring pollutant concentrations and deposition in rural areas for many years within the framework of EMEP (the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme), and annually publishes a report on the state of the environment in rural areas. More specific investigations include deposition and ion-balance in forest ecosystems and deposition in Danish coastal waters. The ion balance programme complements the background monitoring programme, and it also provides the database required to parameterize the atmospheric chemical load on forest ecosystems. The Department is involved in the national monitoring of critical loads in collaboration with other NERI departments (Department of Terrestrial Ecology and the Department of Policy Analysis). Chemical deposition to coastal marine areas has received special attention, due to its importance in eutrophication and global change. These studies examine coupled physical, chemical and biological processes. This project has close collaboration with the Department of Marine Ecology and Microbiology, and a large number of international institutions.
Primary link at NERI:: The nation-wide Danish Monitoring Programme (BOP)
Arctic air pollution: The atmospheric AMAP project
Arctic air pollution caused by long-range transboundary transport is studied in Greenland by field measurements and mathematical modelling. The aim is to identify source areas and atmospheric transport paths and to quantify the concentration levels and deposition rates.
In the monitoring programme in West Greenland, weekly measurements of acidifying components and heavy metals are carried out. In addition, gaseous Mercury and Ozone are measured with high time resolution. The results are used for assessment of atmospheric concentration levels and seasonal variations, and also for verification and improvement of model calculations of atmospheric transport and chemical transformations. Application of receptor modelling of the pollution composition permits identification and quantification of the source types that influence the atmospheric pollution in these two regions. It is also expected to lead to better transport models.
The modelling programme is based on the operation, application and maintenance of the Danish Eulerian hemispheric model (DEHM). Results on origin, transport, and deposition of acidifying contaminants and heavy metals on land and sea surfaces in the Arctic are essential for interpretation and understanding the Arctic air pollution. A particular feature of the model is the module for hemispheric transport and chemistry of mercury and ozone. These two components seem to be strongly connected in the Arctic, and the model will be further developed and tested in order to identify the origins and transport paths of this highly toxic metal and to quantify the deposition to the sea surfaces in the Arctic.
These studies are a part of the international AMAP project (Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme) which are carried out in collaboration between institutes from Canada, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the USA. In Denmark the project is supported through the DANCEA funds.
The results and the models in the Danish AMAP project will be also used in future international AMAP assessments and for scenario calculations of the effect in the Arctic of emission reductions in mid-latitude source areas.
Dispersion studies and modelling
A range of atmospheric dispersion models for various purposes are used within NERI's research.
The models are used as part of the integrated air pollution forcasting system THOR, as well as on a stand-alone basis.
Some remarks on the various models follow below. If you wish, you can go to the set of web pages on NERI's air quality models.
The physical and chemical processes involved in dispersion are being investigated on all scales. Work is undertaken on parameterizing important processes and constructing a hierarchy of dispersion models for various scales. For example, a long-range, Eulerian transport model (the Danish Eulerian Model, or DEM) is used to predict pollutant concentrations and deposition on a European scale. The model includes detailed modelling treatment of atmospheric chemistry and is used to study the impact of environmental regulations. A second model - the Northern hemispheric Eulerian model - focuses on sulphur compounds with special emphasis on Arctic pollution episodes. The Department's work within meso-scale modelling involves the improvement of the Atmospheric Chemistry and Deposition (ACDEP) model; the ACDEP model focuses on determining nitrogen deposition in marine areas at a high resolution.
On the urban scale, the Department has developed the Operational Street Pollution Model (OSPM) for studying the local gradients and pollutant fluctuations in street canyons under a variety of conditions on a one-hour time scale. An important feature of the model is the concept of physical recirculation in street canyons; OSPM incorporates the chemistry of NO, NO2 and ambient ozone. A Windows version of the OSPM model is available.
The Department is also active within the field of air quality models for regulatory use. The so-called OML model (a modern, Gaussian point source model), is widely used in the regulatory community.
Links to information on NERI’s atmospheric dispersion models:
Overview page on models | THOR | OML | OSPM | DEM | DREAM | ACDEP.
Impact studies
The increased atmospheric concentration of NOx has led to a more than two-fold increase in the tropospheric concentration of ozone in recent years. As the ozone concentration frequently exceeds safe levels for human and ecosystem health, the Department studies pollutants involved in ozone photochemistry. The complex composition of nitrogen compounds is investigated in detail to elucidate the importance of NOx for the formation of ozone and harmful nitrogen products. In addition, VOC’s and aerosols are included among the compounds which the Department scientists study, in order to identify adverse effects. Benzene, in particular, has received special attention due to its great health risk.
Recent studies have focussed on the effects of air pollution on bus drivers and the environmental causes of children cancer.
Pesticides and product control
In 2002 a research group from the former Department of Environmental Chemistry (MIKE) was transferred to ATMI. This group includes chemists and laboratory technicians involved with research on fate of pesticides in the environment, development of analytical chemical methods and control of consumer products. Thus, the department supports the Danish Environmental Protection Agency in relation to control of consumer products and evaluation and authorisation of pesticides.
Resources
The Department of Atmospheric Environment has a staff of approximately 75, of which 35 have academic backgrounds in physics, chemistry, meteorology, engineering, urban planning, including students and visiting scientists from numerous countries.
The Department's 2003 budget is approximately DKK 33 million, where roughly 65% is derived from external sources (research grants, contract research, etc.).
Where to go from here...
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