This application visualizes the air quality in Hamburg on a local scale for the current day. The data are obtained by the CITYCHEM model which was developed at hereon. Based on different emission sources like street traffic, ship emissions, producing factories and residential heating, an hourly forecast for the next day is calculated for different air pollutants like NO, NO 2, O3, PM2.5 and PM10 with a resolution of 100 m and summarized in the air quality index.
For 21 monitoring stations throughout the city, the measured data for air pollutants can be attended with one day delay. Also, the forecast for those stations is calculated.
Hamburg is the second-largest city of Germany as well as one of the country's 16 constituent states. The city is located in northern Germany with the North Sea to the west and the Baltic Sea to the northeast. Hamburg borders the states of Schleswig-Holstein and Lower Saxony. Hamburg as major port city is connected to the North Sea by the Elbe River (100km). It is crossed by hundreds of canals and also contains large areas of parkland. The topography of Hamburg is rather flat, the highest point has an altitude of about 115 m. The area of the city spans to 755.22 km2 . The City of Hamburg has a population of about 1.82 million (2016) leading to a population density of roughly 2,400/km2 .
Air quality in Hamburg has improved continuously in the last two decades. However, exceedances of the air quality regulatory limits for certain air pollutants occur occasionally. Road traffic and shipping are major contributors to emissions of nitrogen oxides and fine particulates. Elevated car traffic with the important side effect of enhanced emissions. High NO2 concentration due to road traffic near streets. Exceedance of annual NO2 limit values at all traffic monitoring sites. In winter, fine particulate matter mainly from small residential heating pose a health problem. In 2011, the daily mean of PM10 was exceeded (i.e. it was more than 35 times above 50 µg/m³).
Emissions of air pollutants from vehicular traffic, in particular diesel engines, contribute substantially to the current burden in Hamburg, despite stringent European Union regulations on vehicle emissions and increased efficiency of the engines. Main reason for the high local burden in street canyons adding to the urban background can be attributed to the high number of diesel vehicles with high NOX emissions. Real-world emissions of diesel vehicles proofed to be several times higher than emissions under engine test lab conditions.
The air quality forecast data is distributed in the hope that it will be useful. The accuracy of the data from the forecast model is not guaranteed and may not be correlated enough with real concentrations. The maps are only intended for informational purposes.
The air quality index AQI is an hourly indicator for general air quality. The AQI value summarizes the short-term effects of air pollutants on human health and allows to present them clearly. Five air pollutant components are used to calculate the short-term air quality index. These pollutants are considered to be representative components for the total exposure to air pollution and, at higher exposure, they can cause acute complaints such as irritation of the respiratory tract or the eyes as well as cardiovascular complaints in sensitive people.
The following air pollutants are taken into account in this short-term air quality index:
The concentration values of these pollutants are divided into index classes in the AQI, which are grouped according to the German school grading system with classes 1 (“very good”) to 6 (“very bad”). The transition from class 4 (“sufficient”) to class 5 (“poor”) corresponds to exceeding the EUwide limit or information value for this pollutant.
The AQI at any location results from the highest index class of any of these pollutants. The highest AQI is always given as an indicator for the pollutant load at a certain location, which was determined based on the modelled concentration from the pollutants at this location. The table below shows the value ranges of the air pollutants for each AQI index class.
NO2 | SO2 | O3 | CO | PM10 | AQI |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1-hour average (µg / m³) | 1-hour average (µg / m³) | 1-hour average (µg / m³) | 8-hour average (µg / m³) | 24-hour average (µg / m³) | index value |
0−25 | 0−25 | 0−33 | 0−1 | 0−10 | 1 |
>25−50 | >25−50 | >33−65 | >1−2 | >10−20 | 2 |
>50−100 | >50−100 | >33−65 | >65−120 | >20−35 | 3 |
>100−200 | >120−350 | >120−180 | >4−10 | >35−50 | 4 |
>200−500 | >350−1000 | >180−240 | >10−30 | >50−100 | 5 |
>500 | >1000 | >240 | >30 | >100 | 6 |
Example for reading the table:
An AQI value of "2" for NO₂ (AQI-NO₂ = 2) means that the nitrogen dioxide concentration at this location was on average between 25 and 50 µg / m³ over the last hour. An AQI value of “4” for PM10 (AQI-PM10 = 4) means that the PM10 mean concentration over the last 24 hours at this location was between 35 and 50 µg / m³. For a station with AQI-NO₂ = 2 and AQI-PM10 = 4, the AQI would be "4".
We are happy to receive feedback from you if you have ideas of how to further develop or improve this application. Please contact us under the following email address.
Content:
Helmholtz-Zentrum hereon
Dr. Matthias Karl
Chemistry Transport Modeling
Max-Planck-Str. 1
21502 Geesthacht, Germany
E-mail: matthias.karl@hereon.de
Layer opacity:
Particulate matter (PM2.5)
(μg*m-3)