ADAPTATION OF THE WEB-SERVICE OF AIR POLLUTION FORECASTING FOR OPERATION WITHIN CLOUD COMPUTING PLATFORM OF THE UKRAINIAN NATIONAL GRID INFRASTRUCTURE

Abstract

Introduction. Air pollution modeling is a powerful tool that allows developing scientifically justified solutions to reduce the risks posed by atmospheric emissions of pollutants. Problem Statement. Cloud computing infrastructures provide new opportunities for web-based air pollution forecasting systems. However the implementation of these capabilities requires changes in the architecture of the existing systems. Purpose. The purpose is to adapt the web service of forecasting the atmospheric pollution in Ukraine to operate in the cloud computing platform of the Ukrainian National Grid infrastructure. Materials and Methods. The web client – web server – cloud computing architecture was used. The calculation of the model is performed in the cloud infrastructure, while the client and server parts operate on separate computers. Results. With the developed service the forecast of air pollution is possible for every point at the territory of Ukraine for more than thirty substances, including chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and others. The forecast is performed using the data of the WRF-Ukraine numerical weather prediction system and visualized through a web interface. The capabilities of the developed system were demonstrated by the example of simulation of air pollution in part of Kyiv affected by the releases from the Energia incineration plant during pollution episode in September, 2019. The total releases of toluene gas from incineration plant and from the fire on spontaneous waste landfill, which is located a few km from Kyiv, were estimated and analyzed. For the considered period the fire could bring considerable additional amounts of pollutants to the studied region. The confidence interval for the maximum airborne concentration for the considered period is estimated from 0.7 to 2.1 mg·m-3 which is higher than the permissible value (0.6 mg· m-3). Conclusions. The presented system could be used by institutions responsible for response to environmental accidents. Keywords: air pollution, atmospheric dispersion, web-systems, cloud computing. Introduction. Air pollution modeling is a powerful tool that allows developing scientifically justified solutions to reduce the risks posed by atmospheric emissions of pollutants. Problem Statement. Cloud computing infrastructures provide new opportunities for web-based air pollution forecasting systems. However the implementation of these capabilities requires changes in the architecture of the existing systems. Purpose. The purpose is to adapt the web service of forecasting the atmospheric pollution in Ukraine to operate in the cloud computing platform of the Ukrainian National Grid infrastructure. Materials and Methods. The web client – web server – cloud computing architecture was used. The calculation of the model is performed in the cloud infrastructure, while the client and server parts operate on separate computers. Results. With the developed service the forecast of air pollution is possible for every point at the territory of Ukraine for more than thirty substances, including chlorine, ammonia, hydrogen sulfide and others. The forecast is performed using the data of the WRF-Ukraine numerical weather prediction system and visualized through a web interface. The capabilities of the developed system were demonstrated by the example of simulation of air pollution in part of Kyiv affected by the releases from the Energia incineration plant during pollution episode in September, 2019. The total releases of toluene gas from incineration plant and from the fire on spontaneous waste landfill, which is located a few km from Kyiv, were estimated and analyzed. For the considered period the fire could bring considerable additional amounts of pollutants to the studied region. The confidence interval for the maximum airborne concentration for the considered period is estimated from 0.7 to 2.1 mg·m-3 which is higher than the permissible value (0.6 mg· m-3). Conclusions. The presented system could be used by institutions responsible for response to environmental accidents.