EUROTRAC-2 Project Wins EUREKA Lillehammer Award

Improving air quality is an interdisciplinary task. For the development of effective strategies and measures, political decision-makers need scientific findings from different research disciplines - from physics and chemistry to meteorology to biology. At the same time, environmental problems often exceed the possibilities of individual working groups or countries. This is why the BMBF funded the joint European project EUROTRAC-2, which received the EUREKA Lillehammer Award in Paris on 18 June 2004 for its outstanding contribution to environmental protection.

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Over 400 researchers from 30 countries - about one third of them from Germany - participated in the joint European project EUROTRAC-2. The objective was to gain new scientific insight into the development, behaviour, transport and impact of air pollutants. On this basis, political decision-makers were to be given recommendations for reduction and avoidance strategies. In 2003, the project, which was coordinated by Germany, was officially concluded after a period of six years.

"EUROTRAC-2" stands for "The EUREKA Project on the Transport and Chemical Transformation of Environmentally Relevant Trace Constituents in the Troposphere over Europe - second phase" and is part of the EUREKA Initiative for applied research in Europe. The initiative provides industry and science with a framework for cross-border cooperation projects. The EUREKA Lillehammer Award is conferred each year for project contributions which help to improve the environmental situation in Europe and point out a sustainable solution for problems in the areas of waste and environmental pollution.

The results achieved by EUROTRAC-2 have considerably enhanced scientific knowledge. Excellent scientific works were able to demonstrate, for example, the significance of ozone which is transported over long distances between continents in the lower layers of the atmosphere (troposphere). Tropospheric ozone is a reason for the measurable increase in the average ozone concentration in cities although measures to reduce short-time peaks are regionally successful. The ozone concentration in the air can reach levels which are considered to be damaging to the health. Experts believe that up to 10% of the European basic pollution load is due to ozone which was transported to us from North America through the atmosphere.

Furthermore, studies within the framework of EUROTRAC-2 showed that so-called particle matter is of similar significance for both air quality and the regional and global climate: The concentration of aerosols and nanoparticles, for example, time and again transgresses the EU limits.
In line with its research-policy objectives, EUROTRAC-2 made important contributions for policy and administration which can be, or have already been, implemented in relevant measures of environmental policy. One example is the use of management and warning systems. The air quality in cities or conurbations can be controlled or systematically improved by means of such systems. Furthermore, new, satellite-borne technologies to measure air pollutants are used. The impact of traffic on air quality - a consequence, for example, of the cold drivability of engines and catalytic converters or of fuel evaporation retaining systems at petrol stations - has been underestimated so far. Their reassessment can be used for both political measures as well as further technological developments.

Another strength of EUROTRAC-2 was the further development of research work itself. The project used existing research institutions and was able to considerably contribute to developing a Europe-wide network of research. The integration of the Eastern European states, which was achieved for the first time, is of particular importance in this context. Finally, the research collaboration also promoted cross-cutting cooperation in the most diverse disciplines - from physics and chemistry to meteorology to biology.

The structure of EUROTRAC-2 turned out to be a success factor for the project. The coordination bodies of the large-scale project took into account the national interest of the countries involved both in terms of application-oriented research and implementation under environmental policy.
The project was launched in 1996 and financed with contributions from the participating European countries and the European Union. The BMBF supported the German share within the framework of the Atmospheric Research funding programme (AFO2000). BMBF support also went to the EUROTRAC-2 Secretariat located at the GSF National Research Centre for Environment and Health in Munich.

The EUREKA Lillehammer Award, with a price money of 10,000 euro, will be passed on to the EUROTRAC-2 researchers. Within the framework of a one-time "EUROTRAC-2 Young Scientist Award", outstanding individual young scientists from the project are to be awarded the prize money.

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