Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
1. Objectives and Functions
A central objective of the AirWare system is to support monitoring and regulatory
compliance (e.g., with the European Union Air Quality Framework Directive 96/
62/EEC); this includes an impor-
tant public information com-
ponent that is extended by daily
forecast of up to 7 days, as well
as probabilistic forecasts using the
3D photochemical code CAMx
both with an ensemble of meteoro-
logical forecasts, and assumed
PDF around the major emission
sources and their dynamics.
Results are shown as color coded
map overlays for current or fore-
cast ambient concentrations, or
air quality indices such as PSI,
CAI, APMI, incorporating moving
averages and maxima for several
substances over longer periods.
The series of multi-day forecasts
at any given date is also available
as an animation of hourly ambient
concentration plots over the back-
ground map, formatted as an mpeg
movie. Beyond monitoring and
forecasts, AirWare includes tools
for data analysis (emissions, monitoring) and several analytical functions. These
support scenario analysis (WHAT IF … questions), direct comparison of scenarios,
and impact assessment, as well as optimization task (HOW BEST TO …): for
each emission source or class of emission sources one or more alternative or
additive emission control technologies can be assigned with it respective (piecewise
linear) costs functions for annualized investment and operational costs. A combi-
nation of Monte Carlo, adaptive heuristics and machine learning, and genetic
algorithms, and a discrete multi-criteria DSS as post-processing tool then allocates
and scales technologies to design a set of pareto-optimal solutions given a set of
user defined constraints on environmental and economic performance criteria.
A similar tool finds optimal location for monitoring stations given a series of long-
term (annual) model runs at hourly resolution and a preference structure for the
monitoring.
