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Watching volcanoes – SEPA’s new Volcanic Emissions Network

SEPA has launched a beta version of the new Volcanic Emissions Network for consultation. The network, funded by the Scottish Government, is specifically designed to detect polluted air mass originating from erupting Icelandic volcanoes, which have the potential to impact on Scotland’s air quality.

The network consists of four monitoring stations that are set up to detect ground level sulphur dioxide gas and fine dust resulting from grounding volcanic plumes. The network will act as part of an early warning system, providing information to our partners in the health sector and the Scottish Government, enabling them to provide appropriate public health advice and assess potential effects on the Scottish environment.

The website is accessible to members of the public, providing real-time atmospheric measurements of the air quality in the vicinity of the monitoring stations.

To help shape the development of the network and data available through the website, we are looking for your comments and feedback. Please submit your comments using our feedback form by 1 August 2016.

Find out more about the Icelandic volcanoes and SEPA’s role in monitoring threats to Scotland’s air quality from their activity.