OSCAR

1
OSCAR

• Optimised Expert System for Conducting
  Environmental Assessment of Urban Road Traffic
  (OSCAR) (2002-2005)

2
Problems to be Solved

• This proposal addresses the major problem of
  road traffic congestion and the resulting air
  pollution in urban areas. The quality of life of
  the Citizen is expected to diminish in several
  ways as a result of the growth in urban traffic
  including increased journey times, deterioration
  in air quality and health of vulnerable groups
  and increased inefficiencies and economic costs
  affecting industry and business.

3
Problems to be Solved

• In terms of air quality, it is recognised that
  limit values for NO2 and PM10 will be difficult
  to meet in European urban areas. Current
  environmental assessment models, however, cannot
  adequately address complex traffic flows and
  micro-scale dispersion patterns observed in urban
  streets. This severely limits the ability of End
  Users to identify cost-effective and
  environmentally sustainable options for impact
  reduction in order to meet EU Air Quality
  Directives and the associated Daughter
  Directives.

4
Aim

• The overall aim of OSCAR will be to develop and
  deliver an optimised Expert System to assess the
  environmental impact of road traffic in terms of
  traffic flows, emissions and air pollution
  integrated with the capability of identifying
  suitable impact reduction options.

5
Scientific Objectives and Approach

• In order to meet the overall aim of OSCAR, gaps
  in NOx, PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations and
  emissions datasets will be identified.
• Methods for improving modelling approaches for
  the Expert System will be examined. In addition
  to measuring vehicle emissions, ambient
  concentration datasets will be collected at
  roadside and background sites at Athens,
  Helsinki, London and Madrid.
• The consortium will work closely with end users
  to identify their requirements in relation to the
  Expert System and its applications.
• The new datasets will be integrated into next
  generation models developed specifically for
  urban road traffic conditions.

6
Scientific Objectives and Approach

• An optimised user-orientated Expert System will
  be developed in a modularised architecture.
• Once evaluated, the system will be demonstrated
  to end users such as city authorities.
• A particular feature of the OSCAR system will be
  its ability to identify impact reduction options
  for the user.
• Through the modular architecture other
  environmental models, such as for noise and
  vibration, resulting from EU funded projects will
  be integrated into the system.
• The consortium will work with end users to widely
  disseminate the outcomes of the project on a
  European wide basis.

7
Expected Impacts

• A key deliverable will be the OSCAR Expert System
  for end users.
• Through the work programme the Consortium will
  also deliver new datasets of ambient
  concentrations of NOx, PM10 and PM2.5, exhaust
  emission factors, traffic characteristics and
  meteorological parameters measured at roadside
  and background sites in four European cities.
• Development of next generation models for
  predicting hourly levels of street level
  concentrations will help to advance the state of
  the art.
• Through OSCAR, best practices and harmonised
  methodologies for measuring air pollutants,
  emission factors and traffic characteristics in
  free flowing and congested urban situations will
  also result.

8
Misc. Details

• Programme name EESD Energy, Environment and
  Sustainable Development
• Key action RTD Priority 4.1.2. Improving the
  Quality of Urban Life
• Partners UH, Westminster CC, TRL, FMI, YTV,
  NILU, ODPH, NCSRD, UPM, SICE, TNO, Utrecht City
• Webpage httpwww.eu-oscar.org