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FAIRMODE - Forum for Air Quality Modeling

FAIRMODE brings together air quality modelers and users to promote and support the harmonized use of models by EU Member States to support the European Air Quality Directives.

  • Page | Last updated: 07 Nov 2025

Source apportionment to support AQ management (Working Group 1)

Working Group 1 delivers guidance on the fitness for purpose of different source apportionment approaches in the overall context of air quality management practices.

Guidance

Leaders: Guido Pirovano (RSE), Stefano Zauli-Sajani (JRC)

Information on the origin of pollution is an essential element of air quality management that helps identify measures to control air pollution. In this document, we review the most widely used...

Description

The main aim of this working group is to deliver guidance on the fitness for purpose of different source apportionment approaches in the overall context of air quality management practices. Future WG1 activities will focus on:

  1. Consolidating the fitness for purpose source apportionment (SA) guide, in particular with the following topics: complementarity of SA approaches, receptor modelling, extension to O3, NO2, PM coarse...
  2. Supporting the reporting of SA results and update of documentation
  3. Supporting pilot regions and cities in their source-apportionment estimates (first stage of an air quality plan).
  4. Developing a SA protocol in support to planning (key components, sequence, purpose, complementarity…).
  5. Interacting with CEN, in particular in relation to the foreseen Technical Specifications on source oriented SA.
  6. Provide guidance on the use of the CAMS policy products related to source apportionment and source-receptor relationships

Documents

Publications

Tools and datasets

  • Po-Valley (IT) dataset on source apportionment: This dataset includes results obtained with the CAMx model at 5 km resolution over the Po-Valley (Italy). It consists of a series of simulations corresponding to different emission reduction scenarios for three sectors: agriculture, transport and industry. These three sectors agriculture, transport and industry are reduced independently from each other and/or in a combined way by 50 and 100%. All possible combinations of reductions are performed leading to seven different simulations Based on the same set of input data, an additional simulation has been performed with CAMx using the built-in tagging species module (PSAT). All simulations are performed with a resolution of 5 km for an entire meteorological year (2010). All pollutant species are available at daily (PM) or hourly (O3, NO2…) frequency. The dataset is provided with a graphical interface that allows visualizing the differences between tagging and brute force approaches or quantifying the non-linear interaction terms among sectors. The dataset and tool are available on request (mail to enrico.pisoni@ec.europa.eu)
  • JRC website dedicated to source apportionment: https://source-apportionment.jrc.ec.europa.eu link