Transport of pollutants
Air quality is an important factor for the well-being and quality of life of the population. Forecasts of the development of air quality and warnings of possible limit value exceedances are based on the output of forecasting models.
GeoSphere Austria provides daily forecasts of the most important air pollutants such as ground-level ozone and fine dust. The long-range transport of desert dust is also predicted. The forecasts are based on model simulations with WRF-Chem and are representative of the large-scale distribution of pollutants.
Measurements that are influenced by the release of pollutants at close range, for example, can deviate significantly from these model calculations.
Due to its particle size, fine dust (PM10) can reach deep into the lungs and impair lung function. Further information can also be found on the website of the Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt).
In contrast to ozone in higher layers of air, which protects us from harmful UV radiation, ground-level ozone is an irritant gas that can impair human lung function. You can find more information on the website of the Environment Agency Austria (Umweltbundesamt).
In certain weather conditions, desert dust is whirled up by strong winds and transported to higher air layers. From there it can be transported over long distances by the corresponding large-scale air currents.
The maps show the course of total dust concentrations in Europe over the next few days. As the dust particles are distributed over large vertical areas in the atmosphere, the concentrations are added up over all altitude layers. The maps therefore do not show dust values close to the ground, but the total amount of desert dust in the atmosphere above each individual map point at the time under consideration.