The Horizon Europe project AQ-RISE (Air Quality – Research, Innovation, policy Support and Equity) got funded. The total budget is about 10 MEuro, counting about 1150 person-months of work for a 4-year project. The start date is 1 February 2027, and the kick-off meeting is planned in Barcelona, Spain during February 2027.

The AQ-RISE project is coordinated by the Spanish National Research Council Spain (CSIC, Spain) and co-coordinated by the Dutch Organization for Applied Natural Science Research Netherlands (TNO, The Netherlands). The consortium includes partners – 26 Beneficiaries and 5 Associated Partners from Spain, The Netherlands, Norway, Finland, France, UK, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Greece, Switzerland, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria.

AQ-RISE Abstract: Air pollution remains a key health risk in Europe, which motivated the EU to revise the ambient air quality directive. AQ-RISE aims to significantly progress on fundamental challenges concerning monitoring and modelling of air pollutants facing stricter limit values and of air pollutants of emerging concern enabling to better answer to the needs of key stakeholders involved in the implementation of the AAQD at local, Member State or EU Level. AQ-RISE addresses the optimal and cost-effective design of monitoring networks by exploiting super sites and low-cost sampling networks, with special attention to automated quality control and data handling and to the assessment of spatial representativeness. NRT particulate matter source apportionment will be enhanced through multi-instrument configurations extending the application to UFP and OP. To support model application AQRISE will provide novel information on emissions of emerging pollutants and PM emissions from non-inventoried sources. To improve the modelling of daily limit values specific attention will be given to spatiotemporal emission variability. The functionality of multiscale air quality models for planning and source apportionment purposes will be improved for PM, UFP, BC, NH3, OP, VOCs, NOx, and O3. Novel assimilation and AI fusion techniques will be applied combining modelled distributions with sensor networks and (geostationary) satellite data. The combination of solutions will be demonstrated in 10 pilot regions representing different pollution and climate regimes in Europe. An example is the application of EU wide high resolution AQ maps to address social equity. The project delivers a roadmap for upscaling and exploitation of the developed solutions. The AQ-RISE consortium in extremely well connected to policy support activities under FAIRMODE, CAMS, AQUILA, EMEP and ACTRIS and very active in CEN working groups ensuring the integration of AQ-RISE solutions into European air quality practices.

AQ-RISE Work Packages (WPs): WP1: Current status & Stakeholders requirements WP2: Enhanced monitoring of regulated and emerging pollutants WP3: Improve the representation of atmospheric emissions WP4: Multi-scale modelling of regulated and emerging pollutants WP5: Integration of models, observational data (in-situ and remote) and source apportionment methods WP6: Demonstration of combined solutions to support legislation WP7: Exploitation: Roadmap for upscaling and integration into operational services/networks WP8: Communication, dissemination and public engagement WP9: Project Management

News by: Tuukka Petäjä, Alexander Mahura, UHEL-INAR