AUT/LHTEE Model Documentation System

Professor Nicolas Moussiopoulos

Aristotle University Thessaloniki, Lab. of Heat Transfer and Environmental EngineeringTel: + 30 310 996011, fax: + 30 310 996012E-mail: moussio@eng.auth.gr

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A short introduction MDS was developed by the European Topic Centre on

Air Quality (ETC-AQ) with the aim of providing, through the Internet, information and guidance to any user of air pollution dispersion models in selecting the most appropriate model for a specified application.

The pilot version of the MDS was first installed on the World Wide Web in 1997, while an updated operational version was launched in the spring of 1998.

In March 1999 version 3.0 of the MDS was installed including a form for direct model submission over the web.

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Whole catalogue of models

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AUT/LHTEE Structured search operands

“And” shows that you want each model to have all keywords (at least all selected keywords)

“Or” shows that you want selected models to have at least one of the selected keywords (any of the selected keywords)

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Keyword list Predefined terms Policy issue

Climate change, ozone depletion, tropospheric ozone, acidification, eutrophication, summer smog, winter smog, air toxics, urban air quality, industrial pollutants, nuclear emergencies, chemical emergencies

Application type air quality assessment regulatory purposes and compliance policy support emergency planning public information scientific research

Model output concentration deposition, source-receptor relationships dose concentration fluctuations

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Air pollution source stack/single stack/multiple line source array of line sources area/general area/gridded

Release type continuous intermittent accidental

Spatial scale local local to regional regional to continental global

Simulation character statistical episodic real time

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Pollutants modelled passive/generic buoyant/generic dense/generic particulates/generic SO2, CO, NOx, VOC’s, ozone, benzene, NH3, lead, PM10

Processes considered complex meteorology, vertical structure, complex terrain, deposition, scavenging, chemical transformation

Computer platform PC, workstation, mainframe, supercomputer

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Example of the OFIS model brief description

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Example of the OFIS model long description

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MDS-Current submissions At present, a total of 99 models are included in

the MDS: 96 models include both long and short description 3 models include only short description

Number of models per spatial scale category

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

local local-2-regional regional-2-continental

global

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MDS evaluation report The MDS evaluation report, as this was

conducted in May 2000: clearly indicated that such a system is successful.

90% of the respondents declared having had a successful search and more than 50% applied the models and obtained successful results

highlighted additional needs that the MDS users require from such a system, e.g. information on model validation and uncertainty issues concerning model results.

These requirements should be used to enrich the content of MDS, and the information provided for each model.

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Adapting MDS to user needs

In view of the Commission’s policies and future planned activities (e.g. CAFE Programme), and the needs that these present in terms of air quality assessment, MDS is of prime importance and can be viewed as a portal to a large set of tools for assessing air quality at different scales.

Need for an MDS update

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New elements necessary for the restructuring of MDS

New search fields, allowing for information on model validation

Inclusion of more information regarding pre-processors actually used and the origin of the model input data

Additional categorization of models according to their type (e.g. Eulerian, Langrangian, Gaussian, puff, stochastic, etc)

Introduction of a simpler terminology to meet the needs of the non-expert users

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Necessary actions MDS user community and additional potential users

must be contacted and informed about the MDS update.

Changes must be made to the database, to accommodate the new information (search fields)

Requested information must be collected, quality checked and added to the system. update of existing models (validation aspects,

previous model applications, references, contact person co-ordinates

introduction of new models

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Time schedule and funding (1/2) ETC/ACC funding (available)

This will cover the entry of new models and the update of existing models, according to the existing MDS stucture. It is planned to take place in November 2002, therefore the MDS user community will be informed of the update in September 2002

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EU IT development programmes funding (not yet available)

This could cover the work needed to adapt the database according to the user needs, as these are projected through the Commission’s policies (CAFE) and the MDS evaluation report.

If funding is sufficient, MDS can also be extended to include other types of models,

• Air Emissions models• Climate Change models• Integrated Assessment models

Time schedule and funding (2/2)