EIONET Perspective – UK’s experience of air quality assessment

Janet Dixon

Air Quality and Industrial Pollution Programme

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK

Contents

• Introduction• Air Quality Assessment

• Now• Future

• GMES • Potential Opportunities• Potential Obstacles

• Conclusions

Introduction

Need a balance of: • Observations; natural and social sciences;

and research & modelling• Observation platforms

• Ground (in situ)• Balloon• Aircraft• Satellite

• Observation types• Campaign• Long-term monitoring

Air Quality Assessment - now

• EU, national, regional, local statutory assessments• Generally consist of

• Monitoring (in situ; Long Term Monitoring)• Modelling • Emissions inventories

• Used for:• Compliance assessment against EU Directives,

UNECE protocols, national objectives, local targets• Policy assessment –

• Pre-implementation - cost benefit and/or effectiveness analysis

• Post-hoc analysis

In situ monitoring across EEA countries

• Data available for calibration of satellite observations

• Generally high quality (fully QAQC’d to EU standards

• high temporal resolution (hourly over whole year)

• of known uncertainty (<15% or 25%)

• Capital 60k Euro, Running 25k Euro per yr

Pollutant NOx PM10 CO SO2 O3

No of sites in Airbase

2770 2349 1164 2074 2015

Air Quality Assessment - now

• Pollutants – NOx, SO2, PM10, O3, CO, PAH, arsenic, cadmium, nickel, mercury, benzene (+ 26 other hydrocarbons)

• Information brought together by member state (including zone boundaries, populations, pollutant concentrations, exceedences of limit/target values)

• Reporting – compliance – manual on excel spreadsheets

Data flows

• Data available around 45 mins after end of hour• Important: public information; industrial operators

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Rural ozone sites

Urban background ozone sites

Roadside PM10 sites

Urban background PM10 sites

Levels of ozone and PM10: 1987-2007

United Kingdom

Source: AEA, Defra

Monitoring and Google Maps

MappingEmissions and Concentrations

• Pollutants – additional• Improved assessment of uncertainties• More encouragement to using modelling

• Reporting methodologies – more automated

• Information for AQ brought together from a number of sources through INSPIRE/SEIS

Air Quality Assessment - future

Non-statutory assessments

• Event investigation• Saharan dust; fires; industrial incidents

• Research• Academic• Campaigns

• Epidemiology• Exposure assessments

Pollution event investigation

Particle episodes

• March 2007 – fires in the Ukraine

• Elevated PM10 over much of UK

• Publicly available reports

Conclusions

• Balance of observations – type, location• Opportunities

• Verification of emission inventories (AQ & GHG)

• Tracking of AQ episodes• Costs – product; additional to current• Availability – products, data• Uncertainties – accuracy, precision• Resolution – geographical (area and

height)/temporal

• Thank you for your attention

• Any questions?

Contact:

Janet.dixon@defra.gsi.gov.uk

++44(0)20 7238 1699