What is AEMERIS?
As part of its mandate, AEMERA is committed to providing environmental data and information in an open, transparent and timely manner.
In order to begin fulfilling this mandate, AEMERA has launched an initial information-sharing platform to provide access to data on key ambient air, water, land and biodiversity indicators and related environmental information.
Building from an existing platform created for environmental reporting in the oil sands region, AEMERIS – the Alberta Environmental Monitoring, Evaluation and Reporting Information Service – is designed to bring together current province-wide environmental reporting data.
Through AEMERIS, users can access information in a variety of ways, including by medium (air, water; land; biodiversity), and geographically within a provincial land use regional planning context. In some areas of reporting, in addition to providing real-time data reporting from provincial monitoring situations, the information is presented in relation to specific indicators. For example, air quality information is reported in context of the Air Quality Health Indicator (AQHI) across the province.
As AEMERA extends and strengthens its monitoring and reporting activities, AEMERIS is updated frequently to incorporate a broader scope of indicators and information. Additional services – including more evaluation and reporting features for a broad range of users – are also planned and will be introduced in 2015 to improve the accessibility and relevant information to support the data.
AEMERIS is a starting point. AEMERA is currently developing a new open, interactive and comprehensive digital presence – based on global best practices – as the foundation for its future environmental monitoring, evaluation and reporting activities. With work beginning in Fall of 2014, the goal is to create and launch a state-of-the art environmental information platform in 15 to 18 months.