Integrated assessment modeling of air pollution in four European countries

The integrated assessment modeling on acid rain has incorporated several re lated effects and pollutants into a multi-pollutant/multi-effect approach, resulting in complex integrated models and policy assessments. The developm ent and implementation of effects-oriented cost-effective emission reductio n strategies in Europe are based on integrated assessment models. The proje ct on national integrated assessment modeling in Finland, Denmark, Spain an d Sweden aimed to support the national evaluation of European emission redu ction strategies. The tasks covered the comparison of inventories and proje ctions for emissions of sulfur, nitrogen oxides, ammonia and volatile organ ic compounds, assessment of control techniques and related costs, concentra tion and deposition scenarios to estimate environmental effects of acidific ation, eutrophication and ground-level ozone and their temporal aspects, un certainty analyses on both individual modules and whole integrated models, and dissemination of results to stakeholders. The integrated assessment mod eling provided a consistent framework for the harmonization of input data a nd in-depth scientific research tasks on emissions, pollutant loading and i mpacts including comprehensive uncertainty analyses, and facilitated the di ssemination of knowledge to policy-makers.