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3. Ground-Level Ozone (O ) Module
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4. Carbon Monoxide (CO) 4

5. Particulate Matter-10 microns (PM-10)

When the KAQI value of any of the above pollutants goes above 100, then the air quality is considered

to be unhealthy - at first for certain sensitive groups of people, then for everyone as KAQI values
increase.

Source: http://www.beatona.net/CMS/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid= Abu Dhabi, UAE

84&menuid=&lang=en

In cases where direct measurements are not available for deriving or constructing an indicator, one can

try to find approximate or indirect variables (proxies), which are not prefect but are still considered
good enough for the intended purpose. In case of air quality, instead of air concentrations, emissions
are often used, deals with the apparent sources of air pollution and for which data are usually better
available. But even then, proxies are sometimes used, such as SO for SOx, NO for NOx, and PM10 for
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all small particulates. In addition, various emissions (e.g., from road transport) are not measured directly,
but estimated on the basis of underlying activities in the economy (e.g., for transport the number of

cars in a country, the type of engines they use, etc.).

For the purpose of this exercise - how to construct an indicator from data variables - we will derive a

virtual air quality index (AQI) for a country and use Kenya as an example. However, you are invited to
do this exercise for another country, or other area like a city, of your choice.

Kenya’s virtual AQI will be derived by combining emissions of SO , NOx and NMVOC using a
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hypothetical formula created for this exercise. Data for other substances, like PM10 or PM2.5 emissions
are not available. Many countries report CO and other GHG emissions to UNFCCC as required
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of participating developed countries under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
(UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol. Other emissions are often reported to UNFCCC, but still

many data gaps persist making it very difficult to show comprehensive time-series. Various emission
estimations for countries, regions and the world as a whole are provided by several agencies, including
the Carbon Dioxide Information and Analysis Center in the United States (CDIAC), the International
Energy Agency in Paris (IEA) and the Environment Assessment Agency in Netherlands, formerly part
of RIVM (RIVM/MNP).

Here we will try to calculate a simple, virtual AQI for Kenya for the year 1995, using data from RIVM/
MNP and CDIAC through the GEO Data Portal.

IEA Training Manual Workshop for the National Reporting Toolkit (NRT) 71