The Finnish Meteorological Institute's cooperation with Ukraine continues – now in the field of air quality
Photo: Adobe Stock.The first onsite training of UFAIR, Ukraine-Finland Institutional Cooperation in Air Quality Monitoring project between the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources of Ukraine and the Finnish Meteorological Institute, took place in Finland at the beginning of May. The subject of the training was the assessment of air quality based on satellite data.
Satellite data provide regional information on air quality and its temporal variability, such as on-going sand toxins, the effects of fires or long-term changes in industrial emissions.
"Satellite data are particularly useful because of ongoing war in Ukraine, which causes air quality impacts and limits air quality measurements in the country", says Jenni Latikka, Project Manager at Finnish Meteorological Institute.
Poor air quality can increase morbidity, cause premature deaths as a result of long-term exposure, and affect ecosystems, thus also producing negative economic impacts.
The goal is to strengthen the expertise of Ukraine's environmental authorities and harmonize operational practices
UFAIR is an Institutional cooperation instrument project funded by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland. The main objective of the project is to improve the competence of the Ukrainian environmental authorities in air quality monitoring and management. The focus of the project is on harmonizing of practicalities and legislation to comply with EU regulation, which supports Ukraine's EU membership negotiations. In addition, the project supports the environmental impact assessment of the war.
The inception phase of the project was carried out in the autumn of 2024. The inception phase included revision of the project plan, the design of two new EU reference air quality monitoring stations to be procured during the project and a high-level kick-off meeting in Kyiv.
The implementation phase of the project began at the beginning of 2025 and has included, among other things, an audit of the Kyiv air quality measuring network, remote training on the siting of air quality monitoring stations and air quality forecasting, support for the drafting of the new air quality index act and participation in mock sessions in preparation for the bilateral screening negotiations under EU Chapter 27.
In addition to the Ministry, the project includes several Ukrainian environmental authorities from the national level to city level actors such as Ukraine Hydrology and Meteorological Center, City of Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk city and oblast, Lviv, Sumy, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. The project budget is €2 million and is estimated end in 2028.
More information:
Project Manager Jenni Latikka, jenni.latikka@fmi.fi
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