The National Air Pollution Monitoring Network (NABEL) is a project created by two Swiss government agencies: the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (BAFU) and the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA). It is located in Dübendorf, which is in the canton of Zurich.

Establishment of the National Monitoring Network

EMPA has been measuring air pollutants regularly since 1968 as part of a team of 11 countries, starting with four stations. From 1972 to 1977, these measurements continued under the OECD Base Program. In 1978, the project expanded to eight stations. After the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) signed the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution in 1979, the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) joined the effort. As part of the research program "Forest Damage and Air Pollution in Switzerland" (NFP14), measurements were added at three forest sites. By 1990/91, the network grew to its current size of 16 stations.

Activities and monitoring stations

NABEL checks the current levels of air pollution and tracks how air quality changes over time in Switzerland. The monitoring network includes 16 stations spread across the country: Basel Sternwarte St. Margarethen, Bern, Beromünster (which replaced the Lägern station in 2016), Chaumont, Davos, Dübendorf (replaced in 2020), Härkingen, Jungfraujoch, Lausanne, Lugano, Magadino, Payerne, Rigi, Sion, Tänikon, and Zurich. These locations show the most common air pollution conditions in Switzerland, from low to high pollution levels. Even though there are not many measurement points, they provide a clear picture of air quality nationwide.

Some stations are part of international programs, including the European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme (EMEP) and the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW).

In addition to stations covering the northeast and western parts of Switzerland, other monitoring stations are managed by Swiss cantons and cities through the Cercl’Air network. Cercl’Air is a group of Swiss officials and university representatives who work on air quality control and non-ionizing radiation.

NABEL also helps with research projects.

Literature

P. Lüscher: Overall Swiss classification of the three observation areas from a soil science perspective. In: Programmleitung NFP14 (Ed.): Lufthaushalt, Luftverschmutzung und Waldschäden in der Schweiz: Ergebnisse aus dem Nationalen Forschungsprogramm 14, Volume 6. Published by Verlag der Fachvereine, Zurich 1991.