The European Commission and the EEA agreed to reinforce efforts to improve
knowledge on implementation of air quality legislation through a joint pilot
project. The Air Implementation Pilot run from March 2012 to June 2013 and
aimed at better understanding the challenges cities faced in implementing
air quality policy. Twelve European cities were selected and invited to join
the project. One of the focus of the Pilot project was to assess the use of
models for air quality assessment and management, share experiences, and
identify needs for further guidance. The results of the analysis of
modelling practices are presented in this work. More than 20 different
models have been used for air quality assessment and management in these
cities. The main purposes for which cities applied models are air quality
assessment, quantification of source contribution and long term planning.
The cities have found models helpful and the outputs have been used in urban
air quality assessment and management, including the evaluation of
strategies to reduce PM ambient levels. However, the cities found
difficulties in the application of models as for instance the quality and
availability of input data or the validation and uncertainty estimation of
the model results.
The role of air quality modelling in particulate matter management in cities. Results from the Air Implementation Pilot
