A decision support system for air quality management combining GIS and optimization techniques

This paper describes a multi-tiered approach to the design of plans and policies for urban environmental management, in particular air quality, as related to the energy and transportation sectors. The approach is based on the iterative combination of sectoral and global optimization models, including a discrete multi-criteria approach, and spatially distributed air quality models. The approach combines: dynamic emission/immission modelling, traffic equilibrium modelling that estimates the traffic loads and therefore the emissions on each street segment, activity analysis models proposing efficient energy/technology choices and as a consequence emissions, and multi-criteria analysis of air pollution impacts, in particular the effects on public health. The software framework that implements this approach integrates observation data management, a geographic information system (GIS), and a set of simulation and optimization models. It is developed within the EUREKA Project EU1388 (AIDAIR).