Harmonisation... Conferences Belgirate Introductory address Abstract

Abstract

Ten years of Harmonisation activities: Past, present and future

H.R. Olesen. National Environmental Research Institute (NERI), Denmark. E-mail hro@dmu.dk

Paper presented at the 7th international conference on Harmonisation within Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling for Regulatory Purposes, Belgirate, Italy, May 28-31, 2001. Available through the web at http://www.dmu.dk/atmosphericenvironment/harmoni/belgirate.htm

Abstract

This paper is an introductory address to the 7th conference on Harmonisation within Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling for Regulatory Purposes. It is meant to be a resource of information on activities as well as an introduction to debate at the conference.

One of the main points of emphasis of the paper is that in the community of modellers, as well as in the community of model users, we should build upon the experiences of each other.

As a group, we should construct common tools (such as databases and software tools and tools for information exchange) and promote the use of them.

Individually, as modellers we shall do whatever we can in order to make our own work accessible to our colleagues. Often this aspect is neglected, because the emphasis is being given to providing the sponsors with the immediate answers that they want – rather than building up durable, well-documented and generally accessible methodologies.

There is a tendency too often to start from scratch with modelling work, and as a result many of us fight with the same problems and repeat the same mistakes.

The first part of this paper recapitulates previous work related to the series of harmonisation conferences; it can serve as a catalogue of useful information on the outcome of activities and available tools. In the second part, the "landscape of modelling" is inspected, resulting in some "good questions" to the modelling community. Here, a striking observation is the amount of duplication of effort, which takes place. The third part of this paper is directed towards the future and mainly deals with steps that we can take in order to reduce duplication of effort. One particular idea is discussed in some detail: the establishment of FAQ-like structures.

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