InterAIR Panel Session: Air quality monitoring & reporting
14:30 - 15:30
CHAIR: Richard Fellner, CEO, nowcast GmbH
The latest advances in air quality monitoring technology and forecasting.
- Konstantina (Dina) Efstathiou, Sales Manager, Raymetrics
Title: Particulate Matter - A revolutionary approach using remote monitoring of particulate matter. (Particulate matter constitutes one of the most challenging problems both for air quality and for climate change policies).
Abstract: Atmospheric aerosols affect air quality and, in turn, human and ecosystem well-being (WHO, 2013a; Fowler et al.,2009), and also have an important role in the Earth’s climate system (IPCC, 2013). Aerosol research efforts are therefore quite numerous on both issues, although the aerosol effect on climate is certainly the subject most widely studied.LIDAR technology can address this challenge offering remote sensing of aerosols at long distances with up to several kilometres’ radius of detection. Aerosols concentration and plumes dispersion 4D monitoring, characterization, source localization and load contribution, incoming (background) pollution monitoring and virtual fencing are the keystones that LIDAR technology is capable to offer for such applications. Raymetrics scanning backscatter/depolarization lidars are proven to be the ideal solution for measuring Particulate Matter (PM) and offer critical insight on identifying local aerosol emission sources, dispersion and concentration levels on site.
Integration with in situ sensors leads towards a wider range of capabilities and services, making this Lidar an ideal tool for National environmental Agencies, other governmental Agencies and Academia.
- Anni Karttunen, Vaisala Oyj
Title: Thinking big with air quality – solving air quality issues with integrated solutions.
Abstract: Air pollution imposes one of the largest health risks of our time causing several million deaths every year with the effects most dramatically seen in the rapidly growing urban areas. In order to face the problem and mitigate the impacts with the means of regulation, planning and restrictions the circumstances have to be monitored and forecasted accordingly. Key components in solving the issue is identifying and monitoring pollution levels and hotspots, forecasting the distribution and concentration of the pollutants and converting the information for relevant metrics e.g. air quality indexes and visualization e.g. concentration maps for the use of decision makers and citizen.Thus far regulatory air quality monitoring has been focused on acquiring and operating reference air quality Networks with a very high data accuracy and traceability standard while regional authorities and city operators have invested in compact air quality sensor networks for a high spatial resolution of the most common pollutants. Both networks have a similar target and will benefit of an integrated solution that takes into consideration the strengths and limitations of the systems. Besides air quality observations key weather parameters and boundary layer conditions need to be monitored to be able to forecast the pollution distribution e.g. local wind and precipitation conditions. High-resolution air quality forecasting provides tools for regional and local planning and actions.
Solution: Vaisala integrated air quality approach covers key air quality and meteorological observation networks with integrated data collection and management combined with high-resolution air quality forecasts and data visualization outputs for multiple stakeholder use.
Richard Fellner
CEO, nowcast GmbH
Richard is the CEO of nowcast, a German-based organisation fully focussed on lightning research, lightning detection, warning technologies and associated risk profiles.
Richard studied electrical engineering in Munich. After graduation he started his career as a development engineer with Siemens in the field of communications technology. After that he held several management positions in product line management, sales & marketing with Siemens and later Nokia Siemens. For the following five years, Richard was for Coriant (a producer of optical transmission networks) the Managing Director and Head of Sales in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Since February 2018 he has been CEO responsible for nowcast, the lightning champion in the UBIMET family and successfully cooperates with many national weather services, organisations (including the WMO) and universities as well as private sector industries, on all continents.
Konstantina Efstathiou
Sales & Marketing, Raymetrics, Greece
Konstantina is Raymetrics Sales manager. She handles all client contact and is responsible for sales and marketing, including designing marketing material, product leaflets, posters, presentations, as well as making quotations including technical documents and entering tenders, attending conferences and trade expos.
Prior to joining Raymetrics, Mrs Efstathiou worked for 11 years in G. Kordopatis Ltd in sales and support of scientific instruments and diagnostics.
Her major is Biology from the University of Crete and her Master’s degree is in Molecular Biology and Biomedicine from the IMBB-FORTH (Institute of Molecular Biology and Biomedicine-Forth Crete).
She joined Raymetrics in June 2016.
Anni Karttunen
Application Manager for Meteorological Infrastructure and Capability Development and Meteorologist, Vaisala
Anni Karttunen is Vaisala Application Manager for Meteorological Infrastructure and Capability Development and Meteorologist. She has worked in several large meteorological modernization programs managed by Vaisala, from conceptualization all the way to delivery.
