The design of the Romanian national air quality monitoring network

Transcription

1 The design of the Romanian national air quality monitoring network Ecaterina SZABO NRC Air Quality Romania Senior Councilor Pollution Control and Air Quality Department Ministry of Environment and Forestry 12 Libertatii Blvd., 5 th District Bucharest Tel: Fax: ecaterina.szabo@mmediu.ro

2 BACKGROUND Romania became a member of the EU in 2007 Romania transposed the Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe through a Law (no 104/2011), adopted by the Romanian Parliament in May 2011 The new law on air quality transposed also the provisions of the Directive 2004/107/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, relating to arsenic, cadmium, mercury, nickel and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in ambient air 2

3 Through this law were established, at national level, 13 agglomerations, defined as zones that are either conurbations with a population in excess of inhabitants, or, where the population is inhabitants or less, with a density of 3000 inhabitants per km 2 Also were defined 41 zones for air quality assessment and management 3

4 The National Air Quality Monitoring Network (NAQMN) was established in the period taking into consideration the criteria foreseen in the daughters directives and, at the first stage, included 117 monitoring stations ; In present, the NAQMN includes: 142 fixed monitoring stations ; 41 laboratories for analysis endowed with necessary equipment, 42 centers for data processing (1 center at the level of each zone and 1 national centre for data validation). 107 panels for public information regarding air quality. 4

5 Monitoring stations are located in accordance with the provisions of the Directive 2008/50/EC in: 24 traffic locations; 57 industrial locations; 37 urban background locations; 15 suburban background locations; 6 regional background locations; 3 EMEP locations. 5

6 A traffic station assesses the traffic influence on air quality ; The measured indicators are: sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), volatile organic compounds (VOC) and particulate matters. 6

7 An industrial station assesses the influence of industrial activities on air quality; The measured indicators are: sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), volatile organic compounds (VOC), particulate matters and meteorological parameters (wind speed, wind direction, atmospheric pressure, temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, precipitations). 7

8 An urban background station assesses the influence of integrated contributions from all sources upwind of the station; The measured indicators are: sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), volatile organic compounds (VOC), particulate matters and meteorological parameters (wind speed, wind direction, atmospheric pressure, temperature, solar radiation, relative humidity, precipitations). 8

9 Responsibilities of the authorities under NAQMN LEPAs (local agencies for environmental protection) manage the local networks for air quality monitoring (at county level) : measurement, data validation, local air quality assessment, report to NEPA (National Environment Protection Agency), public information; NEPA (National Environmental Protection Agency) is in charge with: data base, data certification, air quality assessment at national level, report to the MoEF (Ministry of Environment and Forests); MoEF reports to European and international institutions according to international obligations. 9

10 The air quality data received from all the 142 fixed monitoring stations as well as meteorological data received from the 119 fixed monitoring stations are sent to the local centers. The air quality data received from the stations are also sent to panels for public information. At national level there are 107 panels for public information distributed as follows: 48 external panels located in highly populated areas from cities or in pedestrian areas; 59 internal panels located in the building of public administration office (city halls, environmental protection agencies, etc). Also, the air quality data at national level can be accessed on internet webpage : 10

11 Overview of data flow system: where and how data are reported A monitoring station using EDA application: -acquires data; - executes an automatic preliminary data validation; - transmits data to local EDAC Center (hourly it establishes an automatic GPRS connection with the local server (EDAC) where it transmits hourly average values and alarms). EDAC Center stores data from affiliated stations and monitors, manages and integrates all local raw data. Raw and validated data are transmitted to a central server (from NEPA) using a special software and a high-speed network. Here, the data are viewed by the public or registered web users. 11

12 A schematic representation of the air quality data flow: TCP/IP GPRS Local server (local agencies) Highly Secured network Indoor panels for public information central server NEPA NRT data exchange Internet EEA EoI Dec 97/101/EC Outdoor panels for public information NEPA data management Air quality assessment report Dec. 2004/461/EC 12

13 Encountered difficulties : At national level there is a minimum acceptable number of fixed sampling points but nevertheless the costs for network s maintenance in optimal parameters are very high; At the network installation were encountered some difficulties in location of the station mainly due to the owner of the land that corresponded to the criteria for locating (foreseen in directives) because private owners or some public institutions could not be constrained to accept a monitoring station located in their area; The closing of some industrial facilities implied the relocation of some monitoring stations which involved a supplementary budget. 13

14 Thank you for your attention! 14