Risk and impact assessment through air, water and soil quality modelling: an integrated approach

The demand for integrated modelling of different environmental compartments is increasing. With steadily growing computational power it seems possible to overcome the obstacles still preventing the comprehensive numerical treatment of the environmental system including society and economy. This article deals with approaches to the combined treatment of air, water and soil pollution aiming at impact and risk assessment. The design of forward and inverse (adjoint) model systems is discussed and examples of applications focussing on air pollution impacts are given. It is evident that complex system applications to risk and impact assessment are still at their beginning and that there is still considerable potential to be exploited.