Project objectives:
 The Competent Authorities have and are undertaking significant dust monitoring and management efforts as well as several projects to support air quality management and data collection. Due to the large spatial and temporal variability of measured PM10 concentrations, as well as potentially significant PM inputs from transboundary movements, however, added efforts as well as innovative data collection and modelling tools are required in order to facilitate the preparation of effective and efficient dust management plans.
The project's overall objective is to support the Competent Authorities in preparing cost effective and efficient particulate matter management. For this purpose, state of the art now casting, forecasting and scenario analysis software will be applied. New and innovative data collection and processing methods as well as a robust stakeholder participation process will be introduced in order to support the application of the models.
The present data collection activities will be supported through the project by remote sensing techniques. These will be developed, calibrated and applied and will provide data for a potentially much denser grid than possible with ground stations. Further, this method can produce data at various elevations thus greatly enhancing source apportionment and air quality modelling. Source identification will be achieved through oryctological analysis and backtracking techniques. The current monitoring network supported with the additional data prpoduced through remote sensing methods will be able to provide the necessary information in order to derive accurate and verified results on PM10 source apportionment, which constitutes one of the main objectives of the project.
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Transboundary input of particulates further complicates the issue of source apportionment as well as preparing effective dust management plans. Therefore regional modelling will be implemented through the project in order to quantify this aspect.
Based on the produced derived information, various management scenarios will be defined, and the analysis models will subsequently be defined which will incorporate the necessary technical and regulatory information but which will also incorporate socioeconomic factors into the decision making process.
 The scenario development and analysis activities will utilise the existing modelling capacities of the Department of Labour Inspection, while additional road canyon PM modelling capacities will be introduced and applied. In order to facilitate the incorporation of socioeconomic factors, a robust stakeholder participation process will be implemented aiming to define economic and social goals and constraints.
In summary the project's general goals are to facilitate effective and efficient dust management improve the monitoring and source apportionment capacities, to provide reliable estimates of transboundary contribution to measured concentrations as well as to prepare a source specific dust management plan. Although the main objectives of the project is to prepare a Dust Management Plan, the project goes well beyond this task and the requirements of Directive 2008/50/EC.
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