From harmful gases to tiny particles, the air we inhale is filled with invisible pollutants. These come from both human activity (for example, transport, power plants, residential heating, agriculture) and natural sources (such as volcanic eruptions, wildfires, mineral dust, sandstorms or geysers).
Copernicus In-Situ data plays an important role for the daily air quality forecasting (on both a global and European level) of the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS). These forecasts are particularly useful for weather centres and air quality agencies, with applications also ranging from assessing environmental impacts to even optimising solar energy production.
Key figures
of the global population breathes air that fails to meet the WHO safety guidelines
premature deaths every year are linked to polluted air
people worldwide cook using open fires or inefficient stoves fuelled by kerosene, biomass and coal
The challenge
Most satellites observe the entire column of the atmosphere, which means they can’t always detect what’s happening right at the surface and fully track atmospheric pollutants. Plus, satellite data may have gaps that need to be filled. All this is detrimental to the reliability of the forecasts.
The solution
In-situ data are crucial for validating and assessing the global forecasts. For the European forecasts, they go even further, as they are also fed into the air quality models themselves. Gathering the necessary in-situ data from national air quality data providers and making them available to users such as CAMS is a task of the European Environment Agency (EEA), acting as cross-cutting coordinator of Copernicus’ access to in-situ data.
Results and impacts
Using in-situ data improves air quality forecasts and allows scientists to fill gaps in areas without direct observations, leading to the best possible estimate of surface-level air pollution across Europe.