Odour Assessment
Odour Assessment Reports enable the assessment of the odour situation in the vicinity of odour-intensive businesses such as e.g. agricultural livestock farming, sewage treatment plants, biogas plants and paint shops. To this end, a dispersion model is used to determine the frequency of odour hours in relation to one year and compare them with the thresholds of the Odour Immission Guideline (GIRL).
Odour Assessments for Industry, Commerce and Livestock Farming
- Of interest to: e.g. architectural and planning consultancies, agriculture, plant operators, power companies, regional and other public authorities, project applicants.
- Price: on request.
- Contact: umwelt@geosphere.at
Dispersion models calculate average concentration values. For odour perception by humans, however, not average values, but peak values that occur briefly – in the range of a few seconds – are important. A key criterion in the assessment of odour is whether the odour threshold, the perception threshold that applies to a group of people, is exceeded. Exceedances of this threshold are indicated in ‘odour hours’.
According to the Odour Immission Guideline (GIRL), an odour immission is to be assessed if its origin coming from a specific installation is recognisable, i.e. if it can be distinguished from odours from vehicle traffic, domestic fires, vegetation, agricultural fertilisation measures or similar (‘pre-pollution’). As a rule, it is to be considered a significant nuisance if the total pollution (i.e. the previous pollution plus the additional pollution caused by a specific installation) exceeds the following immission values, specified as relative frequencies of odour hours in relation to one year: 10 % for residential/mixed areas, 15 % for commercial/industrial areas and 15 % for village areas.