Title of Example

Example

The City of Leipzig has only limited resources for air quality issues. Yet, as the state authority (Sächsisches Landesamt für Umwelt und Geologie) is responsible for the measurements, the data derived from the measurement facilities at Leipzig is available online (daily updates) and is analysed yearly (report available to the public).

In co-operation with the local energy provider Stadtwerke Leipzig, the municipality created an electronic board in April 1998 to display the measurement results of two stations at Leipzig (updates daily at 10, 13, 16 and 19 o’clock). The board is located in Leipzig’s busiest shopping street (pedestrian area, Petersstraße).

The board is located on one side of a double-sided advertisement display administered by JC Decaux. The investment costs for the electronic equipment and the graphic design were 40.000 DEM (about 20.500 EUR) and were shared between the Stadtwerke Leipzig (local energy provider) and the City of Leipzig. The board itself is provided free of charge by JC Decaux as it uses the reverse side for advertisements. Stadtwerke Leipzig uses a running text line at the bottom of the board to provide customer information.

The information given includes half-hour average values of NO₂, SO₂, benzene, ozone and PM taken from two measurement stations belonging to the state authority and that are located in Leipzig. Both measurements are taken at a height of 3,5 m. One station is located at a very busy intersection close to the Main Station while the second one is located in a residential area to the west of the city.

The data is presented both in numbers and on a scale. The scale includes limit values that are highlighted in green (low exposure), yellow (medium exposure) and red (high exposure). The City of Leipzig plans to adjust those values in the near future with the EU limit values.

The state authority that is responsible for the measurements makes the data available by internet. A small computer operated with MS Windows 98 that is located invisibly under the board connects with the website through its modem to retrieve the data from the website. A specially programmed chip (“eprom”) is used to make the data displayable with liquid crystals.

Security glass protects the board from the outside. So far, no vandalism has occurred.

The board makes it possible to inform the local public in real time about air quality and thus helps to promote transparency and access to environmental information as part of the public relations carried out by the City of Leipzig’s Environmental Protection Office. Observation of the board suggests an ongoing interest by the public.

In addition, AQ information is also available by internet and videotext.

Last Updated

13th January 2005