The NILU – Norwegian Institute for Air Research ( no, NILU – Norsk Institutt for luftforskning) or NILU is one of the leading specialized scientific laboratories in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
researching issues related to
air pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...
,
climate change and health. It is an independent nonprofit institution, established in 1969, staffed by scientists, engineers and technicians with specialized expertise for working on air pollution problems. The staff do more than two hundred projects annually for research councils, industries, international banks and local, national and international authorities and organizations. Its first director was
Brynjulf Ottar.
Fields of work
NILU was founded in 1969 and the institute conducts environmental research with emphasis on the sources of
air pollution
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different typ ...
and on
air pollution dispersion, transport, transformation and
deposition. It is also involved in the assessment of the effects of
pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, the ...
on
ecosystem
An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...
s,
human health and materials. Integrated environmental assessments and optimal abatement strategy planning has been a field of priority during the last few years.
Assessment of transboundary transport of
air pollutant
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different type ...
s,
acid rain and global
air quality
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...
are important tasks.
NILU has the responsibility as a national research institution for air pollution in
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
and is also being used as an international air pollution expert by the
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...
, the
Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank established on 19 December 1966, which is headquartered in the Ortigas Center located in the city of Mandaluyong, Metro Manila, Philippines. The bank also maintains 31 field offic ...
and the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...
.
NILU has developed an automatic
surveillance program for
air quality
Air pollution is the contamination of air due to the presence of substances in the atmosphere that are harmful to the health of humans and other living beings, or cause damage to the climate or to materials. There are many different types ...
in cities and background areas. NILU have specialized in computerized automatic air pollution
surveillance, planning and optimal abatement strategy planning. This AirQUIS system is an air pollution management and planning system designed for managers and decision-makers.
Companies and locations
NILU's head office is at
Kjeller
Kjeller is a village located near Lillestrøm in the municipality of Lillestrøm, Norway. It is located 25 kilometers north-east of Oslo.
Name
The Norse form of the name was probably ''Tjaldir''. This is then the plural of ''tjald'' n ' tent' ...
on the outskirt of
Oslo
Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population ...
in Norway. A specialized office for
Arctic
The Arctic ( or ) is a polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean, adjacent seas, and parts of Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Danish Realm (Greenland), Finland, Iceland, N ...
related matters is an integrated part of
the Fram Centre (FRAM – High North Research Centre for Climate and the Environment) in
Tromsø
Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.
Tromsø lies in Northern Norway. The municipality is the ...
. Innovation nilu is a holding company for NILU's various commercial interests and subsidiaries.
Innovation nilu
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See also
*Atmospheric dispersion modeling
Atmospheric dispersion modeling is the mathematical simulation of how air pollutants disperse in the ambient atmosphere. It is performed with computer programs that include algorithms to solve the mathematical equations that govern the pollutant ...
*List of atmospheric dispersion models
Atmospheric dispersion models are computer programs that use mathematical algorithms to simulate how pollutants in the ambient atmosphere disperse and, in some cases, how they react in the atmosphere.
US Environmental Protection Agency models
Man ...
*Czech Hydrometeorological Institute
The Czech Hydrometeorological Institute (CHMI; cs, Český hydrometeorologický ústav (ČHMÚ)) is the central state office of the Czech Republic in the fields of air quality, meteorology, climatology and hydrology. It is an organization establis ...
*Finnish Meteorological Institute
The Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI; fi, Ilmatieteen laitos; sv, Meteorologiska institutet) is the government agency responsible for gathering and reporting weather data and forecasts in Finland. It is a part of the Ministry of Transport ...
*National Center for Atmospheric Research
The US National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR ) is a US federally funded research and development center (FFRDC) managed by the nonprofit University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) and funded by the National Science Foundatio ...
*National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark
The National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark, abbreviated NERI, ( da, Danmarks Miljøundersøgelser, abbreviated DMU) was an independent research institute under the Ministry of the Environment. It was created in 1989 by merging the ex ...
* Roadway air dispersion modeling
*Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute
The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute ( sv, Sveriges meteorologiska och hydrologiska institut, abbreviated SMHI) is a Government agency in Sweden and operates under the Ministry of the Environment. SMHI has expertise within the a ...
* TA Luft
*UK Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling Liaison Committee
The Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling Liaison Committee (ADMLC) is composed of representatives from government departments, agencies (predominantly but not exclusively from the UK) and private consultancies. The ADMLC's main aim is to review current ...
*UK Dispersion Modelling Bureau
__NOTOC__
This page is out of date and should be considered an historic reference only
The UK Dispersion Modelling Bureau was part of the Met Office, the UK's national weather and meteorological service. The meteorologists in the bureau are among ...
*University Corporation for Atmospheric Research The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research (UCAR) is a US nonprofit consortium of more than 100 colleges and universities providing research and training in the atmospheric and related sciences. UCAR manages the National Center for Atmosph ...
References
{{authority control
Air pollution organizations
Atmospheric dispersion modeling
Research institutes in Norway
Foundations based in Norway
Organisations based in Skedsmo
Environmental research institutes