Conserving the environment

Key challenges facing Europe are the need to protect the environment and safeguard our quality of life, whilst ensuring sustainable economic growth within demanding environmental legislation. Managing and protecting the environment requires robust and reliable data to assess and monitor environmental parameters whether for assessing climate change or pollution emission trends.

Scientists studying climate change base their findings on data gathered from satellite borne instruments, and terrestrial networks for monitoring air quality. National and international agencies rely on this data to ensure that environment treaties and regulations are both well-designed and enforced effectively. Carbon accounting schemes and other regulatory measures for safeguarding the environment also require reliable data based on accurate measurements of pollutants potentially present in the environment at part per billion levels.

The environmental projects funded under the EURAMET research programmes, EMRP and EMPIR, have brought together research groups from metrology institutes, academia, and industry to work collaboratively. These address some of the measurement challenges associated with the better quantification of parameters that affect climate change and the measurement of emissions hazardous to our quality of life.

The EMRP projects have been completed, and highlights are available here. The first set of EMPIR environment theme projects are in progress and the second set will start in 2020.

Environmental Data Themes Report

The aim of the EMRP Environmental Data themes I and II was to improve environmental data quality for policy making, underpinning climate research activities and stimulating technological innovation. The research focused at both the local environmental level for air, water and soil quality and at the global level for challenges relating to climate change. This report outlines the key technical achievements and details the new measurement capabilities developed as a result of the collaborations within these environmental themed projects.

Download the report