Air Quality in Wales
Website of the Welsh Air Quality Forum
News
Dust Deposits - Pembrokeshire, West Wales
Published Date: 01/10/2008
There has been a report of dust deposits in Pembrokeshire on the evening of Sunday 28 September 2008. The Met Office have investigated and report that the source of the dust may be from storms in the southern USA. A Tropical Storm may have lifted the dust into the atmosphere. It then travelled across the Atlantic in the usual jetstream and then fell over Pembroke in some patchy rain on Sunday evening.
The impact on local air quality appears to be small with no substantial increase in PM10 concentrations at ground-level.
Latest newsletter is now avalable
Published Date: 03/03/2008
The latest newsletter is now avalable, containing exciting items on AURN changes, web news and the recent Saharan dust episode in Wales.
New Practical Guidance on using diffusion tubes has now been released
Published Date: 19/02/2008
New Practical Guidance on the use of Diffusion Tubes for Ambient NO2 Monitoring has now been released. The document presents the findings of the Working Group on harmonisation of NO2 diffusion tube preparation and analysis methods, led by AEA Energy & Environment and Air Quality Consultants on behalf of Defra and the Devolved Administrations. The guidance is primarily written for laboratories that supply and analyse diffusion tubes, but also contains useful guidance for diffusion tube users. The recommendations are expected to be implemented by all parties by January 1st 2009.
Click here to download the Guidance
Particulate Matter Episode - 23rd January
Published Date: 24/01/2008, by AEA
Overnight from Wednesday January 23rd Wales experienced a particulate matter air pollution episode which looks to have been sourced from a Saharan dust storm. The airmass back trajectory analysis - see below - shows air from north African reaching most parts of the UK including Wales yesterday. The link at NASA's Earth Observatory
shows a satellite picture of the origin of the dust storm in North Africa.
The following link shows a dust forecast from the University of Athens. The near ground dust concentration map clearly shows high concentrations over England and Wales.
Concentration map from the University of Athens.
Many AURN sites in southern England and Wales have recorded Moderate and High levels of PM10 overnight and this morning. These are expected to reduce during the day today.
Click on the image below for a larger version in a new window.
New Annual Report for 2006
Published Date: 08/10/2007, by AEA
We are pleased to announce the release of the latest annual air quality report for Wales, available for immediate download. This provides user-friendly information on air pollution levels, trends and impacts throughout Wales during 2006. For the interested or more technical reader, a comprehensive range of detailed air quality analyses, statistics, data summaries and graphs is included on a CD, provided with hardcopies of the report.
This report has been produced in association with the Welsh Air Quality Forum for the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) and the people of Wales. Together with the Welsh air quality website at www.welshairquality.co.uk, it provides the most reliable, complete and authoritative source of data on air pollution issues in Wales.
» Download 2006 Annual Report - English (pdf)
» Download 2006 Annual Report - Welsh (pdf)
Heatwaves Increase Welsh Air Pollution
Published Date: 05/10/2007, by AEA
ane Davidson, the Welsh Assembly's Environment Minister, welcomes the "Air Pollution in Wales 2006 report", which also revealed hotspots for a number of pollutants such as PM10 and nitrogen dioxide.
She said: "Air quality is an issue that affects each and every one of us and both this report and the forum's website mean that people can find out about the substantial work being undertaken in Wales to tackle air pollution."
For a full press release, click on the link below.
New Annual Air Quality Report for 2005
Published Date: 24/01/2007, by Netcen
The latest annual air quality report for 2005 has just been released.
» Download report (pdf)
Newsletter 7, July 2006 has been published
Published Date: 31/07/2006, by Netcen
This Newsletter includes articles on monitoring, local authority support and web enhancements.
Newsletter 6, March 2006 has been published
Published Date: 01/04/2006
The keynote article is Ten Years of the Welsh Air Quality Forum.
Newsletter September 2005 has been published
Published Date: 01/09/2005
This newsletter covers information on the latest regional emission inventories for Wales; some recent work under taken by Netcen in Gibraltar; and the recent major AQEG report on particles.
New Annual Air Quality Report for 2003
Published Date: 24/05/2005
The latest annual air quality report for 2003 has just been released. It provides a comprehensive summary of air pollution trends, episodes, spatial variations and compliance against air quality standards during the eventful heat wave year. The report is in an all-new and user-friendly format.
» Please download here. (pdf)
Newsletter, June 2005 has been published
Published Date: 24/05/2005
Air pollution and climate change is the main topic of this issue. It is also discussed that the lated issue of ecosystem impacts of air pollution, especially in Wales.
Useful information on how to bias-adjust the measurements from these widely used NO2 samplers is also included.
Wales Air Quality Mapping Paper Published
Published Date: 20/01/2005
netcen has recently published a paper comparing maps of air quality concentrations with measurements from the Air Quality Database for Wales. It concludes that PM10, NOx and particularly NO2 compare favourably with the modelled data from Wales.
Twenty air quality monitoring stations are now supplying hourly data
Published Date: 01/06/2004
Twenty air quality monitoring stations are now supplying hourly data automatically to this web site and the Air Quality Database for Wales. The sites include a wide range of different monitors for ozone, oxides of nitrogen, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matter.
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