Pollutant Emissions 35% open

What data is expected?

Aggregate data about the emission of air pollutants especially those potentially harmful to human health (although it is not a requirement to include information on greenhouse gas emissions). Aggregate means national-level or available for at least three major cities. In order to satisfy the minimum requirements for this category, data must be available for the following pollutants and meet the following minimum criteria:

• Particulate matter (PM) Levels
• Sulphur oxides (SOx)
• Nitrogen oxides (NOx)
• Volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
• Carbon monoxide (CO)
• Updated on at least once a week.
• Measured either at a national level by regions or at leasts in 3 big cities.

What data is available

•   Openly licensed? No (No URL given)
•   Is the data available for free? Yes
•   Is the data machine readable? No (n/a)
•   Available in bulk? No
•   Is the data provided on a timely and up to date basis? No
•   Publicly available? Yes(as Greenhouse Gas Inventory (CO2, CH4, N20, NOx, NMVOC, and SO2) and Ozone Depleting Substances published by Qatar Information Exchange)
•   Is data in digital form? Yes
•   Is the data available online? Yes (Here)
•   Does the data exist? Yes

Details

Qatar Information Exchange publishes some data about gas emissions, but this data is very old (2007).

It is worth noting that Qatar is a very small country and it is unlikely that a city level breakdown could be provided for such data.

add by yaron one city is engeh for Enough for Qatar Because Qatar is a very small country -all air pollution is Monitor except VOCs

from the news Amid ongoing concern about air pollution in Qatar, a new environmental report shows harmful airborne particles exceeded recommended levels for 159 days of the year in 2012. The Environment Statistics Annual Report 2013, recently issued by the Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics, breaks down Qatar’s air quality levels from 2008 until its latest figures in 2012. It follows data released by the World Health Organization earlier this year, which suggested Doha’s air is among the most polluted in the world.

Pollution

The WHO’s ambient (outdoor) air pollution in cities database 2014 examined air pollution levels in 1,600 cities in 91 countries.

It measures particulate matter, which are small and large droplets in the air. It concluded that Doha had the 12th highest average levels of small and fine particles, known as PM2.5, which can penetrate the respiratory tract and increase the risk of respiratory infections, lung cancer, heart disease and stroke.

According to the US Environment Protection Agency, these particles – which often cannot be seen with the naked eye – are made up of heavy metals and toxic organic compounds, and originate from vehicle exhaust, smelting plants and the burning of organic materials.

Larger particles – PM10 – are mostly caused by dust and smoke. In this category, Doha ranked just outside the top 30.

Standards

While the ministry’s recent report didn’t benchmark Qatar against other countries, it showed that local air pollution levels frequently exceed the WHO’s recommendations as well as Qatar’s own targets, which are more lax than the international standards.

For example, Qatar’s national air quality standards for PM10 are 150 ug/m3 for 24 hours average concentration and 50 ug/m3 for the annual average concentration.

By comparison, the WHO’s standards for PM10 are 50 ug/m3 for the 24-hour average – one third of Qatar’s target – and 20 ug/m3 for the annual average concentration, which is less than half of the national figure.

The MDPS report uses statistics from the Ministry of Environment, which measures air quality at three monitoring stations in Doha – at Qatar University, Aspire Zone and the Mövenpick Hotel on the Corniche.

Levels highest at QU

All three monitoring stations recorded pollution levels above the recommended national and global levels. However, concentration levels of the larger particulates (PM10) were highest at QU station in the north of Doha. That location also recorded the most days when air quality levels did not meet international standards.

Air Quality study - fig14In 2012, the national quality standards were breached on 159 days, or 44 percent of the year

http://dohanews.co/qatars-air-quality-fails-standards-159-days-year/

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