| Authors | David Hector and Louisa Kramer |
| Compilation date | 29 April 2024 |
| Customer | Scottish Government |
| Approved by | David Hector |
| Copyright | Ricardo Energy & Environment |
| EULA | Ricardo Report EULA |
| Contract reference | SAQD annual report | Report reference | Interim report 2023 |
This report provides a summary of statistics for the fully ratified 2023 Scottish Air Quality database dataset. For more information regarding the statistics and data provided in this report please visit the Air Quality in Scotland website. This interim report focuses solely on data from the Scottish automatic monitoring network and is provided in advance of the “Scottish Air Quality Annual report” series of reports which is published later on in the year and provides a more comprehensive collation of Scottish air quality data and information.
This is a dynamic report containing embedded data from which the report tables, plots and graphs are generated. The embedded data allows the reader a level of interaction with some of the report findings, providing additional insight. This approach enables a more easily navigated and streamlined report providing an engaging and intuitive reader experience.
Maps for example can be panned and zoomed with different layers and markers turned on and off and with popup information by clicking on markers or hovering the mouse over them. Tables may contain much more information than initially displayed and can be set to show different numbers of rows, and can be filtered sorted or searched to display only specific information of interest.
The report is easily navigable using the floating table of contents on the left pane which tracks with the reader’s progress through the report and expands and collapses to a level of detail related to the subheadings used. The layout of the report is also dynamic, with some sections split into specific ‘tabs’ (e.g. per pollutant or per site) for ease of access to those sections.
A summary of site information is presented in the interactive map and table below. Full site information can be obtained using the URL hyperlink in the popup for each monitoring station on the map.
Data contained within this report is managed by Ricardo and stored in a dedicated, secure database. The data within this report has been fully ratified.
Gaseous pollutant mass units are at 20 °C and 1013 mb. NOx mass units are NOx as NO2 μg m-3. Particulate matter concentrations are reported at ambient temperature and pressure.
A summary of the current UK Air Quality Objectives and objectives adopted in Scotland can be found here.
The following tables present pollutant statistics for 2023. The Low, Moderate and High indicates the number of days for a particular pollutant when the concentrations are in the corresponding Air Quality Index (AQI) bands for 2023.
The plots below show the annual mean concentration for each site. Each pollutant is presented on a different tab and all sites are shown on each plot for comparison. The red dashed line represents the national annual mean limit value (where applicable). The scroll bar along the bottom of the plot can be used to view data from more sites.
Figure 1: Barchart for NO2 concentration.
Figure 2: Barchart for PM10 concentration.
Figure 3: Barchart for PM2.5 concentration.
Figure 4: Barchart for O3 concentration.
Figure 5: Barchart for SO2 concentration.
The following tables present pollutant statistics for 2023 for PM10 and PM2.5 that have been corrected using factors (PM10 divided by 0.909 and PM2.5 multiplied by 1.06) identified by the “Scottish Government Equivalence Study To Investigate Particulate Matter Monitoring In Scotland Using The Fidas 200”1. This data is only for use by Local Authorities within their LAQM reporting.”
| Name | David Hector |
| Address | Ricardo Energy & Environment, 18 Blythswood Square, Glasgow, G2 4BG, UK |
| Telephone | +44 1235 753523 |
| david.hector@ricardo.com |