A new interface to our European air quality forecasts
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) is pleased to present the revamped interface to our European regional air quality forecasts. The look and feel of our charts is changing, with new intuitive navigation features to go along with the global forecast interface, but the quality of our eleven-member European group of forecasting systems remains.
In this new stage, we divided the forecasts presented into four groups:
the European air quality forecast for regulated pollutants Displays forecasts for the main pollutants regulated by EU and WHO air quality standards: Nitrogen dioxide (NO)2), ozone (O3), coarse particles (PM10) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and sulfur dioxide (SO2).
In the Other air quality pollutants In this category, we have compiled some other key forecasts provided by the European CAMS Group: Ammonia (New Hampshire3), carbon monoxide (CO), formaldehyde (CH2O), glyoxal (OCCHHO), nitrogen monoxide (NO), and non-methane volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and peroxyacyl nitrates (PANs).
The new system provides a separate map on Pollen To explore predictors of major allergenic pollen species, including alder, birch, grass, mugwort, olive, and ragweed. These forecasts are only available during the season for each pollen type. More information on the documentation page.
Finally, the new interface also provides a separate map for Aerosol effects Accompanied by dust, evening10 Produced by forest fires, residential primary carbon, secondary carbon, total primary carbon.
Each map allows users to navigate in detail the four-day forecast provided by the CAMS regional cluster. In the menu, you can change the base time to see the previous forecast and its evolution. You can also select the exact correct time you are looking for or see the forecast through the navigation menu.
“We are very pleased with this move, which we hope will make our regional forecasts available and useful to an increasing number of users.” said Miha Razinger, Senior Analyst in the Forecasting Department at ECMWF, participating in the update.
Users can explore forecasts for Europe or for five different regions: Central Europe, Northwestern Europe, Northeastern Europe, Southwestern Europe, and Southeastern Europe.
In the new interface, you can also easily see group predictions or select one of the eleven group members to compare their respective scores. In the parameter menu, you can select the types of forecasts you want to explore.
The new feature is that by clicking anywhere in the observed area of the map, you can get the bar chart, which is the ENS EPSGRAM of the forecasts required for the specific location. ENS EPSGRAMS provides a visualization of the difference between the forecasts of the 11 models in the ensemble, providing an indication of the forecast uncertainty for the given location. Until now this feature was only available for select cities.
This feature is very useful for evaluating the evolution of the forecast at a specific location. The chart includes the coordinates of the selected location. The column chart feature also allows users to select the desired location via search.
Finally, you can share or embed the map and download the image or script of the selected chart or map.
All maps and areas are also listed on a page where you can easily access the desired forecasts (select forecast map or point-based plots for plots).
This initial interface is planned to be developed in the future, and we warmly welcome the CAMS user community to share their comments and suggestions with the CAMS team via our social media platforms or through the support portal.
This update follows a recent revamp of our global forecast charts, always with the goal of making our forecasts more accessible to everyone.
CAMS produces daily four-day forecasts for Europe based on the Regional Ensemble system, which provides an average ensemble of 11 state-of-the-art air quality models from across Europe, including:
Thanks to this innovative approach, CAMS provides a uniquely powerful perspective on European air quality with a spatial resolution of 0.1°, i.e. about 10 km.
The data behind the forecasts and analyzes is made freely available for any type of purpose through the CAMS Atmosphere Data Store.
CAMS also produces daily five-day global forecasts of atmospheric chemical pollutants, aerosols, stratospheric ozone and UV index at a horizontal resolution of 0.4° × 0.4° (about 40 km). CAMS, based on the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ Integrated Forecast System, integrates satellite observations to determine initial conditions for each forecast.
Major global forecasts are also available on an accessible charts page and the dataset can be downloaded from the Atmosphere Data Store page.
