uncertAIR
uncertAIR aims to provide the necessary tools to compute and communicate air quality model uncertainty in the Barcelona intrarondes area by means of an interactive platform for data visualization and download. The project’s results will impact (i) the public administration by providing evidence for policy making; (ii) the community and social actors, who will have vital information on the exposure risk; (iii) the urban planning business sector and air quality companies, which will benefit from probabilistic air quality information; and (iv) the scientific community who will re-use these tools to estimate and communicate uncertainty when releasing new simulation results.
Duration: January 2023 - June 2024
Our work in this project
Definition and development of the uncertAIR tool - Development of a geostatistic methodology for the estimation of uncertainty maps of modelled NO2.
Addressing the user needs - Mapping air quality users' needs to get a deep understanding of how probability maps can add value to their daily objectives. Such users include public administrations, scientific communities, NGOs, and private companies..
Co-design an interactive tool - Co-design and development of an interactive platform to visualize and download tailored air quality data to the users' needs.
Why is this work relevant?
Air pollution is considered the most significant environmental threat to global public health according to the World Health Organization (WHO) report of 2021. In 2019, 94% and 97% of the European urban population were exposed to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM) concentrations above the WHO guidelines, respectively. Notably, in the city of Barcelona, the high vehicle density (approx. 5800 vehicles km/2) and its coastal emplacement (i.e., the dominance of sea breeze during the warm season, shallow boundary layer development, and recirculation of air pollutants) induce a chronic NO2 problem. A recent study ranked Barcelona as the sixth European city with the highest mortality burden associated with NO2 . In this context, the monitoring and understanding of pollutants exposure of city dwellers emerge as a relevant matter.