Wondering about the water quality, maybe not so important now unless you like a very very cold swim but well.., or the air quality in your country/neighbourhood (Europe)? Check out the European Environment Agency’s Eye On Earth portal. They announced the latest changes last week at PDC.

I just had to check out my surroundings:

This portal started out with (bathing) water only in May 2008 (WaterWatch) and now it shows Air quality (AirWatch) too! The site's user interface provides interactive information from Europe-wide to street level, based on data from air-quality measurement stations and citizens' input.

In addition to near real-time data on specific air pollutants available from air-quality measurement stations, AirWatch presents air-quality information based on Europe-wide modeling covering larger areas. This allows users to get an indication of the air quality anywhere in Europe, not only in the proximity of measurement stations. Users will also see how other viewers described the air in a particular area.

The site is powered by Bing Maps and built completely on Windows Azure and SQL Azure.

In the coming weeks, Eye On Earth will be made available in 24 additional European languages. Moreover, the portal will continue to be enriched with other environmental information from across Europe, covering themes such as biodiversity and noise.

Curious already? Go check it out for yourself!