Directive 2008/50/EC of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

A. Data quality objectives for ambient air quality assessment

a Member States may apply random measurements instead of continuous measurements for benzene, lead and particulate matter if they can demonstrate to the Commission that the uncertainty, including the uncertainty due to random sampling, meets the quality objective of 25 % and the time coverage is still larger than the minimum time coverage for indicative measurements. Random sampling must be evenly distributed over the year in order to avoid skewing of results. The uncertainty due to random sampling may be determined by the procedure laid down in ISO 11222 (2002) ‘Air Quality — Determination of the Uncertainty of the Time Average of Air Quality Measurements’. If random measurements are used to assess the requirements of the PM10 limit value, the 90,4 percentile (to be lower than or equal to 50 µg/m3) should be evaluated instead of the number of exceedances, which is highly influenced by data coverage.
b Distributed over the year to be representative of various conditions for climate and traffic.
c One day's measurement a week at random, evenly distributed over the year, or eight weeks evenly distributed over the year.
d One measurement a week at random, evenly distributed over the year, or eight weeks evenly distributed over the year.
	Sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide	Benzene	Particulate matter (PM10/PM2,5) and lead	Ozone and related NO and NO2
Fixed measurementsa
Uncertainty	15 %	25 %	25 %	15 %
Minimum data capture	90 %	90 %	90 %	90 % during summer 75 % during winter
Minimum time coverage:
— urban background and traffic	—	35 %b	—	—
— industrial sites	—	90 %	—	—
Indicative measurements
Uncertainty	25 %	30 %	50 %	30 %
Minimum data capture	90 %	90 %	90 %	90 %
Minimum time coverage	14 %d	14 %c	14 %d	> 10 % during summer
Modelling uncertainty:
Hourly	50 %	—	—	50 %
Eight-hour averages	50 %	—	—	50 %
Daily averages	50 %	—	not yet defined	—
Annual averages	30 %	50 %	50 %	—
Objective estimation
Uncertainty	75 %	100 %	100 %	75 %

The uncertainty (expressed at a 95 % confidence level) of the assessment methods will be evaluated in accordance with the principles of the CEN Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement (ENV 13005-1999), the methodology of ISO 5725:1994 and the guidance provided in the CEN report ‘Air Quality — Approach to Uncertainty Estimation for Ambient Air Reference Measurement Methods’ (CR 14377:2002E). The percentages for uncertainty in the above table are given for individual measurements averaged over the period considered by the limit value (or target value in the case of ozone), for a 95 % confidence interval. The uncertainty for the fixed measurements shall be interpreted as being applicable in the region of the appropriate limit value (or target value in the case of ozone).

The uncertainty for modelling is defined as the maximum deviation of the measured and calculated concentration levels for 90 % of individual monitoring points, over the period considered, by the limit value (or target value in the case of ozone), without taking into account the timing of the events. The uncertainty for modelling shall be interpreted as being applicable in the region of the appropriate limit value (or target value in the case of ozone). The fixed measurements that have to be selected for comparison with modelling results shall be representative of the scale covered by the model.

The uncertainty for objective estimation is defined as the maximum deviation of the measured and calculated concentration levels, over the period considered, by the limit value (or target value in the case of ozone), without taking into account the timing of the events.

The requirements for minimum data capture and time coverage do not include losses of data due to the regular calibration or the normal maintenance of the instrumentation.