An air quality management system for Cyprus

The new Air Quality Directive (2008/50/EC) encourages the introduction of modelling as a
necessary tool for air quality assessment and management. Towards this aim, a new Air
Quality Management System (AQMS) has been developed and installed in the Department of
Labour Inspection of the Republic of Cyprus.
The core of the system handles the compilation of an emissions inventory that includes data
from all major activity sectors and functions on the basis of a continuous update of the
emissions database. Emission data are then fed into an advanced air quality modelling
system that simulates concentration fields for all the major air pollutants over the island of
Cyprus. The AQMS comprises of two operational modules, providing hourly nowcasting and
daily forecasting of the air quality status, implemented as an integrated model system that
performs nested grid meteorological and photochemical simulations. Hourly air quality data
from nine measuring stations are continuously assimilated into these model calculations. A
third operational module provides the capability of an interactive configuration of custom
emission scenarios and corresponding model runs covering user-defined domains of interest.
The system provides an advanced user interface, which is realised as a web-based
application providing access to model results from any computer with an internet connection
and a web browser.