US/Canadian Data Interface

Airs (with

Voyager)

AES

Canada

AES Downsview

transfers data

Into EXCEL

Decompile

AIRS Data

Manipulate

in EXCEL

Merge in

ACCESS

Re-compile

into a

Voyager file

Ready to Use

Canadian/USA

Data

Previous slide

Next slide

Back to first slide

View graphic version

At the moment, there is no easy way for Canadian and US scientists to examine combined US/Canadian air quality data. US analysis stops at the US border and vice versa. Information collected by both governments fall into their respective repositories, and to date, only an exhaustive procedure involving numerous manipulations of several data sets with multiple software applications is available to view the collective monitored data.

There are many significant reasons to establish a mechanism that allows the sharing of this wealth of isolated information. Here are three:

1. Advanced public health smog advisories.

2. Validation of photochemical modeling.

3. Data assessment

Each government is in the process of updating their main data archive center. It is hoped that a more user-friendly system can be created to utilize the monitored data that is collected, or only half of the story will be told.