The Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine launched an automated process of transmitting air quality data to the European air quality database.
“The Ukrainian air quality monitoring system has not been updated for decades and, unfortunately, cannot provide up-to-date information on air conditions, as required by Ukrainian society. This year we planned to purchase modern air monitoring equipment in co-financing with local authorities, but these funds have been transferred to the coronavirus fund so far. Over the next years, the Ministry plans to establish network monitoring systems in accordance with European criteria,” the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Roman Abramovsky said.
The data is used to calculate the air quality index and transmitted every hour from seven automated posts of the Donetsk Regional State Administration. It monitors concentrations of ozone, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide, as well as suspended dust particles less than 10 and 2.5 microns in diameter. The posts in the Donetsk region became starting points because they comply with the EU air quality directive requirements. It is planned to connect data transmission from Kyiv and Dnipropetrivsk regions in the near future.
Ukraine became the second Eastern Partnership country after Georgia, that was able to meet all technical requirements for organizing the data transfer process.
“We expect that other areas will gradually join this process as monitoring systems are being created in accordance with the requirements of Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 21, 2008 on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe,” noted in the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection.
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