EnviroInfo 2004: DEM-AQ: Data Exchange Module for Air Quality data

Offering the facilities needed to collect, validate, evaluate, store and visualise raw
air quality data and statistics and (meta) information on air quality monitoring networks
and stations, and making these data available on different aggregated levels,
for different information users and through different distribution channels.
AIRBASE is at the service of different target groups: experts, policy makers and the
general public.
The DEM-AQ was implemented to load AIRBASE with air quality information.
The first version of the DEM-AQ was released in 1998. The software is used to exchange
air quality data (raw data, statistics and ozone exceedances) and meta information
on operational air quality networks, stations and measurement configurations
in the framework of the EoI Council Decision 97/101/EC, the EEA-EuroAirnet
programme and the EMEP Task Force on Measurement and Modelling (TFMM).
With the DEM-AQ the data supplier can add, modify and delete meta information
on air quality networks, stations and measurement configurations. The data supplier
can also import data files with extensive error checking. The DEM-AQ supports also
visualisation of the imported data and the transmission of the data for incorporation
in AIRBASE. Yearly the DEM-AQ is pre-loaded with all the meta information contained
in AIRBASE and is send to the data suppliers and the data suppliers load the
DEM-AQ again with the data of the last year. The DEM-AQ is used by almost 30
counties: the EU Member States, EU-Accession countries, EFTA states and some
other European countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and FYROM (Former
Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia).
AIRBASE now contains air quality data of more than 30 European countries, almost
40 air quality parameters, 370 networks, 4000 stations and and more than
15000 time series. AIRBASE has be made available to the public on Internet via the
ETC/ACC Web site 3 (Mol 2003).
2. Structure AIRBASE information System
AIRBASE is an Ingres RDBMS running on UNIX. Later on in 2004 AIRBASE will be
converted in Oracle. Because the DEM-AQ (Access database) has the same datamodel
as AIRBASE, the DEM-AQ can be populated with all available meta
information on AQ networks, stations and measurement configurations including
info on available time series from AIRBASE. The preloaded DEM-AQ is transmitted
to the data suppliers in the countries. The complete data flow can be followed in
Figure 1. The data supplier checks the meta information by adding, modifying or
deleting the meta data and imports the raw measurement data through several formats
of import files. The imported files are checked automatically by the DEM-AQ.
3 http://etc-acc.eionet.eu.int/databases/airview.html
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Copyright © Editions du Tricorne 2004. ISBN: 28 29 30 275-3