Air Quality Management for Copeland Case Study
Project: Air Quality Management
Client: Copeland Borough Council
The Challenge
Copeland Borough Council, along with all other UK local authorities have a statutory obligation to review and assess the air quality within their boundaries. Local authorities must undertake monitoring and modelling of air quality and submit Air Quality Review & Assessment reports.
Airviro system showing real time monitoring data and street canyon results.
The Solution
A combination of monitoring and modelling the air quality is used to ensure pollutant levels stay within National Air Quality Objectives.
Diffusion tubes
- NO2, SO2, C6H6, O3 measured at 24 background, intermediate and kerbside sites
- NO2, SO2, C6H6 are within NAQS objectives
- Inverse relationship observed between NO2 and O3
- O3 levels are close to proposed objective limit of 100 g m-3 requiring further investigations
Real time NO2 and PM10 kerbside monitoring data
- NO2 levels are well below the annual and hourly national objectives
- PM10 levels are well below the annual and 24 hourly national objectives
Modelling of road, point, area and grid sources
- Airviro Air Quality Management system
- Developed model environment of area 70 km x 40 km
- Geographical Information System includes topographical and physiographical data and aids visualisation of results
- Emissions database (EDB) models point, line, area and grid sources
- Vehicle emission rates and traffic flows are updated annually in the EDB
- Industrial sources of emission rates are updated annually in the EDB
- Dispersion modelling used to predict air concentrations
- Model predictions were in good agreement with measurements
- Dispersion model results can be used to site diffusion tubes more effectively
The Benefits
- The client now manages air quality with an integrated system, improving effectiveness, and removing the requirement to maintain multiple software packages
- Modelling results are validated by monitoring data
- Air Quality Review and Assessment Progress Report 2005 concluded that concentrations of all pollutants being monitored are below levels at which adverse health effects are likely to occur.