Introduction

Air Pollution 2012 is the 20th international conference in this successful series dealing with Modelling, Monitoring and Management of Air Pollution organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology.

This successful series first started in Mexico (1993) and continued in Barcelona (1994); Halkidiki (1995); Toulouse (1996); Bologna (1997); Genova (1998); San Francisco (1999); Cambridge, UK (2000); Ancona (2001); Segovia (2002); Catania (2003); Rhodes (2004); Cordoba (2005); the New Forest (2006); the Algarve (2007); Skiathos (2008); Tallinn (2009); Kos (2010) and Malta (2011). These meetings have attracted outstanding contributions from leading researchers from around the world with all papers since 1993 permanently stored in the Wessex Institute eLibrary at http://library.witpress.com.

Air pollution is one of the most challenging problems facing the international community; it is widespread and growing in importance, and has clear and known impacts on health and the environment. The human need for transport,  manufactured goods and services brings with it impacts on the atmospheric environment at scales from local to global. The rate of development of the global economy brings new pressures and the willingness of governments to regulate air  pollution is often balanced by concerns over the economic impact of such regulation. Science is the key to identifying the nature and scale of air pollution impacts and is essential in the formulation of policies for regulatory decision-making.

Technology constantly brings new products to the consumers and with this comes the possibility of creating new contaminants. This development constantly demands research in the field of air pollution in order to better understand, prevent, or bring to acceptable levels, new pollution sources. The process of defining acceptable levels is demanding new research to understand better the impact of long term exposure to various pollutants, or mixtures where separate components can have synergistic effects. Improved knowledge of the effect of pollutants on human health forces periodic review of the regulations for air quality and emissions. Further research for improving monitoring and detection technology is required in order to be able to verify that the current regulations for air quality are satisfied, and to identify areas where further improvements are required.

The goal of this conference is to bring together researchers who are active in the study of air contaminants and to exchange information through the presentation and discussion of papers dealing with the wide variety of topics described below. Case study papers are encouraged. Papers of a more theoretical nature, dealing with advanced mathematical and computational methods, will also be within the scope of the conference.