COBRA is a screening tool that provides estimates of the impact of air pollutant emission changes on ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and ozone (O3) air pollution concentrations, translates this into health effect impacts, and then monetizes these impacts.

The model does not require expertise in air quality modeling, health effects assessment, or economic valuation. Built into COBRA are emissions inventories, a simplified air quality model, health impact equations, and economic valuations ready for use, based on assumptions that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently uses as reasonable best estimates. COBRA also enables advanced users to import their own datasets of emissions inventories, population, incidence, health impact functions, and valuation functions. Analyses can be performed at the state or county level and across the 14 major emissions categories (these categories are called “tiers”) included in the National Emissions Inventory. 2 COBRA presents results in tabular as well as geographic form and enables policy analysts to obtain an estimate of the benefits of different mitigation scenarios under consideration. More sophisticated, albeit time- and resource intensive, modeling approaches are currently available to obtain a more refined picture of the health and economic impacts of changes in emissions.

Email info@climateprogramportal.org for a link to download the application.