Tehran air pollution forecasting system

Real-time air quality forecasting is a useful tool to study the dynamics and transport of air pollutants, forecast air quality concentrations and consequently protect citizens from unhealthy air. This paper presents the applications of Tehran air pollution forecasting system (apfs.tehran.ir). This system is uniquely designed for the simulation of variations in the concentrations of some of the main pollutants (including PM10, PM2.5, CO, NO2, SO2, etc.) affecting Tehran’s air quality. The main objective of such an extensive forecasting system is to obtain a comprehensive overview of air pollutants distribution over Tehran and to provide updated information to its citizens. This system aims to provide forecasting maps, on a daily basis and 72 hours in advance, for criteria pollutants. Such information has been used to issue early air quality alerts that allow government and people to take precautionary measures such as temporarily shutting off schools, major emission sources or odd-even traffic restriction implementation to reduce air pollution. Accurate Real-time air quality forecasting can therefore offer tremendous societal and economic benefits by enabling advanced planning for individuals, organizations, and communities in order to reduce pollutant emissions and their adverse health impacts. The daily forecasts are presently provided by TAPFS on a national and regional scale and comprehensive model outputs are available at Site[1].