WATER DATA
Where available, the icons for the current year refer to the most recent water quality analysis. They represent only temporary assessments of the latest bathing water quality data. The EEA receives from various sources in Europe the results obtained on the basis of several parameters. After checking the values of those parameters against those set in the EU legislation, the EEA assigns icons as follows:
| Represented on this portal |
 | Good | Good Sites with lower values than the mandatory and guide values. Those waters have excellent or good quality |
 | Moderate | Average Sites where one of analysed parameters has a higher value than mandatory value |
 | Bad | Bad sites with higher values than the mandatory values from the Bathing Water Directive. Those waters have poor quality |
The current icons have therefore a different meaning from the overall annual assessment - which is shown by previous year data. An annual assessment for the current year can be done only at the end of the bathing season by analyzing the data submitted for the entire year. Consequently, the icon representing the current year assessment might change throughout the bathing season.
The bathing water quality icons (Red, Yellow, and Green) used in this portal are a simplification of the analyses carried out by the European Commission of the coastal and inland water quality data provided by the 27 EU Member States. For such data the Commission analyses have identified the six water categories presented below:
| Represented on this portal |
| Good | Good Compliant with the guide values (CG) Compliant with the mandatory values (CI) |
| Moderate | Average Insufficiently sampled (NF) Not sampled (NS) |
| Bad | Bad Prohibited throughout the entire bathing season (B) Not compliant with the mandatory values (NC) |
In this portal, for all the historical assessments, the Green icon is assigned to a classification "Compliant with the guide values" and "Compliant with the mandatory values". The yellow icon is assigned to bathing waters that are insufficiently sampled or not sampled, and Red to bathing waters "Not compliant with the mandatory values" or that were closed due to bad quality.
For more information -The EU legislation - Bathing Water Directive - requires EU countries to have clean bathing water. To this end, national authorities regularly take water samples throughout the bathing season - generally from May to September at numerous bathing sites. These samples are analysed on the basis of the physical, microbiological and chemical parameters set by legislation. National authorities must ensure that these limits are not exceeded. The findings are then transmitted to the European Commission, which comes up with an annual assessment for the entire bathing season.
The exact values of the physical, chemical and microbiological parameters may be found in the annex 1 of the Bathing Water Directive. Additional information on the state of bathing water quality data is available from the thematic section of the EEA website and EEA Information Centre
AIR DATA
The EyeOnEarth site provides daily air quality index values across Europe. This index is intended as an overview of air quality conditions in Europe and not a scientific reference. More detailed information can usually be found on national and local web sites. It reports the CAQI (Common Air Quality Index) that is calculated by combining NO2 (Nitrogen Dioxide), O3 (Ozone), and PM10 (particulate matter) into a single index valid for city background conditions as recommended by the CITEAR (Common Information to European Air) project. O3, NO2 and PM10 station readings are processed on an hourly basis. Please note a possible time lag of several hours due to technical reasons.
| Common Air Quality Index (CAQI) |
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| Very Good | Good | Moderate | Bad | Very Bad | No Value |
POLLUTANT BARS
High concentrations of the air pollutants PM, ozone and NO2 can lead to: 1) Short-term effects such as irritation of the eyes, nose and throat; inflammation of the airways, pneumonia; headaches, allergic reactions. 2) long-term effects (particularly concerning PM): chronic respiratory disease; lung cancer; heart disease; damage to the brain, nerves, liver, and kidneys.
| concentration (μg/m³) |
| Pollutant | Very Good | Good | Medium | Bad | Very Bad |
| Partical Matter | Below 25 | 25-50 | 50-75 | 75-100 | Above 100 |
| Ozone | Below 60 | 60-120 | 120-180 | 180-230 | Above 240 |
| Nitrogen Dioxide | Below 50 | 50-100 | 100-200 | 200-400 | Above 400 |
Station data consists of recent in-situ measurements of concentrations of the key air pollutants ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10). It is hourly retrieved from EEA’s data base. This data base currently covers more than 5000 European measuring stations from which ca. 1000 report routinely. A station utilises different measurement methods for each pollutant. For example, the local ozone concentration can be derived from measuring the strength of UV-light absorption by ozone molecules. In general measurements show hourly mean values.
Though, these are reported almost immediately to EEA, there will be a time lag of at least one hour due to technical reasons. Comparing station readings to the air model map, one will frequently observe a difference between corresponding values. This is mainly due to the limited grid cell resolution of the underlying air quality model used to calculate the air quality model map. You can compare the discrepancy between model and station data by comparing a weather map to the weather station in your garden. While the current air quality models on the European scale utilize mesh sizes of 50 km, a station is representative for a single point only. Dependent on nearby polluters, e.g. traffic, and the wind direction it will capture the air pollution from 1m to several hundred meters distance from the station.
The model map shows the latest air quality forecast for most of Europe. Colours correspond to the so called Common Air Quality Index (CAQI) which takes into account the concentrations of ozone, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter (PM10). See the AQI help file for more information. The model forecast is started daily during the early morning hours and is valid for 24 hours. The hourly results from the latest forecast are displayed. State-of-the-art air quality models take into account our current knowledge on air pollution using environmental information on weather conditions, available station readings and even satellite data. The model map currently utilizes the median of corresponding forecast values from three different regional air quality models (EURAD, CHIMERE, MOCAGE). See the providers tab for more information on contributing organisations or visit the PROMOTE project page:
http://wdc.dlr.de/data_products/projects/promote/IAQ/index.html
MORE INFORMATION
For more information: On air pollutants please visit the Air Quality page of the Directorate General for Environment of the Commission of the European Union or the EEA website and EEA Information Centre.
The model map shows the latest air quality forecast for most of Europe. Colours correspond to the so called Common Air Quality Index (CAQI) which takes into account the concentrations of ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter (PM10). See the CAQI help file for more information. The model forecast is started daily during the early morning hours and is valid for 24 hours. The hourly results from the latest forecast are displayed. State-of-the-art air quality models take into account our current knowledge on air pollution using environmental information on weather conditions, available station readings and even satellite data. The model map currently utilizes the median of corresponding forecast values from three different regional air quality models (EURAD, CHIMERE, MOCAGE). See the providers tab for more information on contributing organisations or visit the PROMOTE project page:
USER FEEDBACK
For each location shown (both bathing water and air) shown in the site there are average rating values received each year from web users. For each year, the number of ratings received is displayed.
| User Feedback Icons |
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| Very Good | Good | Moderate | Bad | Very Bad |
The user feedback map is a graphical representation using colours to represent the user feedback, where green is very good, through to red which is very bad. A key is shown at the bottom of the web page. The user feedback maps can be turned on and off using the views drop down.