Model Documentation System

1. Model Documentation System Professor Nicolas Moussiopoulos Aristotle University Thessaloniki, Lab. of Heat Transfer and Environmental Engineering Tel: + 30 310 996011, fax: + 30 310 996012 E-mail: moussio@eng.auth.gr

2. A short introduction • MDS was developed by the European Topic Centre on Air Quality (ETC-AQ) with the aim of providing, through the Internet, information and guidance to any user of air pollution dispersion models in selecting the most appropriate model for a specified application. • The pilot version of the MDS was first installed on the World Wide Web in 1997, while an updated operational version was launched in the spring of 1998. • In March 1999 version 3.0 of the MDS was installed including a form for direct model submission over the web.

5. Whole catalogue of models

8. Structured search operands • “And” shows that you want each model to have all keywords (at least all selected keywords) • “Or” shows that you want selected models to have at least one of the selected keywords (any of the selected keywords)

16. Example of the OFIS model brief description

18. Example of the OFIS model long description

25. MDS-Current submissions • At present, a total of 99 models are included in the MDS: • 96 models include both long and short description • 3 models include only short description

26. MDS evaluation report • The MDS evaluation report, as this was conducted in May 2000: • clearly indicated that such a system is successful. 90% of the respondents declared having had a successful search and more than 50% applied the models and obtained successful results • highlighted additional needs that the MDS users require from such a system, e.g. information on model validation and uncertainty issues concerning model results. These requirements should be used to enrich the content of MDS, and the information provided for each model.

27. Adapting MDS to user needs • In view of the Commission’s policies and future planned activities (e.g. CAFE Programme), and the needs that these present in terms of air quality assessment, MDS is of prime importance and can be viewed as a portal to a large set of tools for assessing air quality at different scales. Need for an MDS update

28. New elements necessary for the restructuring of MDS New search fields, allowing for information on model validation Inclusion of more information regarding pre-processors actually used and the origin of the model input data Additional categorization of models according to their type (e.g. Eulerian, Langrangian, Gaussian, puff, stochastic, etc) Introduction of a simpler terminology to meet the needs of the non-expert users

29. Necessary actions • MDS user community and additional potential users must be contacted and informed about the MDS update. • Changes must be made to the database, to accommodate the new information (search fields) • Requested information must be collected, quality checked and added to the system. • update of existing models (validation aspects, previous model applications, references, contact person co-ordinates • introduction of new models

30. Time schedule and funding (1/2) • ETC/ACC funding (available) • This will cover the entry of new models and the update of existing models, according to the existing MDS stucture. It is planned to take place in November 2002, therefore the MDS user community will be informed of the update in September 2002

31. Time schedule and funding (2/2) • EU IT development programmes funding (not yet available) • This could cover the work needed to adapt the database according to the user needs, as these are projected through the Commission’s policies (CAFE) and the MDS evaluation report. • If funding is sufficient, MDS can also be extended to include other types of models, • Air Emissions models • Climate Change models • Integrated Assessment models