The TASTE-model and the EPM-system: conceptual designs for exploitation and exploration of aggregated emission inventory information in environmental monitoring

As the responsibility for environmental policy in the Netherlands becomes more decentralized, the need for environmental monitoring at the lower governmental authority levels increases. Although conceptual perspectives on environmental monitoring are abundantly available, governmental authorities lack effective application of environmental monitoring and supporting information technology. In this paper, the authors propose a solution for implementing generic environmental monitoring instruments. The solution presented consists of three components. First, environmental monitoring is positioned in an environmental science and information science framework. Second, a data model named TASTE (Time, Area, Substance and human acTivity-referenced Emission inventory) is described. Third, a hybrid management support system named EPM (Environmental Policy Monitor) is described. We end the paper with a discussion of a project recently set up by the Inspectorate General for Environmental Protection in the Netherlands. This project, in which an emission inventory data warehouse is to be developed, is relevant to the study presented as it incorporates both the TASTE model and the EPM system