National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark

The National Environmental Research Institute of Denmark (Danish: Danmarks Miljøundersøgelser) or NERI is an independent research institute within the University of Aarhus. NERI undertakes scientific consulting work and monitoring of nature and the environment as well as applied and strategic research. NERI’s primary task is to establish a scientific foundation for environmental policy decisions.

NERI participates in a large number of national and international research programs, and also participates in scientific working groups, commissions, and organizations under such bodies as the European Union and the United Nations.

Staff
As of January 2008, NERI had a total staff of 437, of which 75% were devoted to research and consulting:


 * Management: 11
 * Research and consulting: 325
 * Administration:101

Locations
NERI has three sites within Denmark:


 * Roskilde: The headquarters of NERI, in Denmark's Zealand island.
 * Silkeborg: In the middle part of Denmark's Jutland peninsula
 * Kalø: In the eastern part of the Jutland peninsula

Departments within NERI
NERI includes a number of departments devoted to various environmental and ecological categories:


 * Department of Policy Analysis
 * Department of Atmospheric Environment
 * Department of Marine Ecology
 * Department of Environmental Chemistry and Microbiology
 * Department of Arctic Environment
 * Department of Terrestrial Ecology
 * Department of Freshwater Ecology
 * Department of Wildlife Ecology and Biodiversity

Department of Atmospheric Environment (ATMI)
The Department of Atmospheric Environment has a staff of approximately 75, of which 35 have academic backgrounds in physics, chemistry, meteorology, engineering, urban planning, including students and visiting scientists from numerous countries. In general, ATMI conducts work within the following fields:


 * Monitoring and mapping of the air quality in Denmark and the Arctic.
 * Research, development and application of atmospheric chemical dispersion models.
 * Studying air pollution scenarios and prognoses as well as air pollution from vehicular traffic.
 * Studies, analyses, and models for the transport, transformation and fate of toxic air pollutants.

ATMI monitors air pollution in Denmark and Greenland, and works with mathematical atmospheric dispersion models  to describe transport, transformation and deposition of air pollutants. The models range in spatial resolution from local air pollution in a single street, to both nation-wide and global air pollution. NERI compiles Danish emission inventories as part of Denmark's obligations in accordance with international conventions.

NERI also participates in many international collaboration networks within the field of air pollution, and it hosts websites for several such networks.