An integrated assessment tool to define effective air quality policies at regional scale

In this paper, the Integrated Assessment of air quality is dealt with at regional scale. First the paper describes the main challenges to tackle current air pollution control, including economic aspects. Then it proposes a novel approach to manage the problem, presenting its mathematical formalization and describing its practical implementation into the Regional Integrated Assessment Tool (RIAT). The main features of the software system are described and some preliminary results on a domain in Northern Italy are illustrated. The novel features in RIAT are then compared to the state-of-the-art in integrated assessment of air quality, for example the ability to handle nonlinearities (instead of the usual linear approach) and the multi-objective framework (alternative to cost-effectiveness and scenario analysis). Then the lessons learned during the RIAT implementation are discussed, focusing on the locality, flexibility and openness of the tool. Finally the areas for further development of air quality integrated assessment are highlighted, with a focus on sensitivity analysis, structural and non technical measures, and the application of parallel computing concepts.

► This paper deals with Integrated Assessment (IA) of air quality at regional scale. ► The paper proposes RIAT, a novel approach to manage the IA challenge. ► RIAT is able to handle nonlinearities, in a multi-objective decision framework. ► Lessons learned during the RIAT implementation are discussed. ► Areas for further development in air quality IA are also proposed.