Look at http://cerea.enpc.fr/polyphemus/ to get an idea of the polyphemus (open source) air quality model. The data requirements for this model are derived from the manual of this model. In principle, the model takes wheather forecast data. Part of the GeoNetCast data are also model results, and can be seen as forecast data as such (i.e., not directly observed).

Primary air quality products: The Near Real Time Total Column (NTO)

• NO2 total column and tropospheric
• O3 total columns

Secondary products, that are e.g. needed for air quality models are:

• Snow cover
• Total cloud coverage
• Cloud coverage layers * Low * Medium * High * 3 D clouds
• Down-welling surface short-wave radiation flux
• Rapid Scan Multi-sensor Precipitation Estimate - MSG (GRIB) * Accumulated precipitation
• Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A (AMSU-A) * Cloud liquid water content * Cloud ice water content
• Surface temperature
• IASI Atmospheric Temperature Water Vapour and Surface Skin Temperature

• or HIRS GDS Level 1 * Temperature profiles * Humidity profiles (if possible specific humidity)
• Wind vectors (direction and speed)

If applicable also:

• Boundary layer height
• Surface pressure

-- EdzerPebesma - 16 Oct 2009