yourAir air quality forecasting system

yourAir provides very high resolution air quality forecasts on the world-wide web.

The forecasting system combines local data on traffic patterns, weather forecasts and regional forecasts of atmospheric composition. These data are input to the ADMS-Urban pollution dispersion modelling system, which gives concentrations at a high degree of spatial resolution across a city.

Air quality forecasts are disseminated as colour pollution maps, text and number summaries, and alerts by SMS/text message, voicemail, and e-mail.

Input data

The base pollution data used in the system are collated from national emissions records and the local inventories. Figures for all the major pollutants are calculated by looking at vehicle flows on major roads, outputs from industry, releases from residential and commercial areas and pollution that drift over the city of interest.

In order to produce air quality forecasts these emissions are run in conjunction with predicted levels of key meteorological parameters—wind speed and directions, temperature and cloud cover. The yourair system is driven by boundary conditions from mesoscale models. The link with mesoscale data was developed as part of the ESA's PROMOTE project that aimed to construct and deliver a sustainable and reliable operational service to support informed decisions on the atmospheric policy issues of stratospheric ozone depletion, surface ultraviolet exposure, air quality and climate change.

ADMS-Urban

ADMS-Urban is an air quality management system for urban planning and air quality reviews, developed by CERC. It is in use in most of the urban areas of the United Kingdom, and its outputs have been extensively validated in a number of studies published in the scientific literature.

In the United Kingdom and around the world it has been used successfully and validated in a variety of situations where different sources types are important (for example industrial, traffic and heating sources) and where different factors such as complex topography affect dispersion. Studies carried out with ADMS-Urban include air quality management planning in London and Beijing; decision-making and air quality forecasting in Budapest, Hungary; air quality assessment in Strasbourg, France; modelling of traffic sources in California, U.S.A.; modelling of domestic coal burning emissions in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Forecasts and dissemination

One key advantage we offer is the ability to generate high resolution maps. These can be in the form of colour-coded air quality contours overlaid on a map of the area, or as labels over specific streets, suburbs or towns. Such maps can be formatted to suit a wide variety of media—including publication on the web.

The system may also be equipped with air quality alerts sent by SMS/text message, voicemail, and e-mail. Users may register online to receive such alerts.