Empirical Model Database (BETA version)

A Repository of Air Quality Estimates From Empirical Models

What is the Empirical Model Database?

Air pollution researchers in the U.S. and worldwide have developed national and continental-scale models for estimating concentrations of several air pollutants. The purpose of the modeling is to estimate concentrations at locations without measurements, and to do so with excellent spatial precision.

Researchers whose results are shared here have elected to make the model estimates publicly available in the hope that they might be useful to others. They and we welcome feedback, comparison, and corroboration that can help improve the methods and estimates. Estimates provided here are most appropriate for understanding averages, broad patterns, and national trends. The underlying models can also produce estimates at individual locations, which can be appropriately used as inputs into analyses that consider a large number of locations, such as studies of the health effects of air pollution (which was the motivating application for many of these models). Researchers generally do not use estimates of the types given here to draw conclusions about air quality at one location or a small number of specific locations; as such, we do not recommend that type of use.

Models shared here are generally derived from publicly available concentration measurements from regulatory monitors. (In the U.S. these measurements are collected by EPA, state, local, and tribal agencies and made publicly available via the U.S. EPA Air Quality System). The models also use information about land use (for example, locations of major and minor roads; elevation; and whether an area is urban or rural) and in some cases satellite-derived estimates of air pollution.

The tables below summarize peer-reviewed large-scale empirical models, and provide links to access model concentration estimates if they have been made publicly available. In some cases, there is more than one model available for a given pollutant and year. Those models have been developed by different research groups, using different methods, or are applied at different spatial locations. We expect that users will familiarize themselves with corresponding publications, and encourage them to contact researchers (contact information provided below) for questions about the data provided, or to request customized data sets via formal collaboration.

Thank you for your interest. If you have suggestions for improvement or have model estimates you would like to share here, please contact us (Matthew Bechle).

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