Press Release

This is a joint press release between the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) and the University of Leicester (31/08/05)

Embargoed until 00.01 on Wednesday 31st August 2005 - for more information please contact the NCAS Science Communications Manager 

City-scale air pollution measured for the first time

Scientists at the University of Leicester have, for the first time, measured air pollution on the city-scale using a single instrument, designed and built in their labs.

Seated on the University of Leicester’s Space Research Centre rooftop, the novel instrument captures the sun’s rays and uses them to build up a daily picture, in 3-D, of the city’s air pollution. Just the size of a suitcase, the instrument has nine telescopes that protrude out and point in different directions across the city, collecting the sunlight every minute of every day. The trapped sunlight is bounced by mirrors inside the instrument straight into the mouth of a device that measures its properties. These are then used to work out how much light has been absorbed by air pollutants before reaching the instrument.

Crucially for Leicester, the instrument can measure levels of nitrogen-dioxide in the air, a pollutant produced by traffic and one which poses a particular problem for the air quality in the city centre.

Dr Paul Monks, lead scientist on this project said, “90% of the nitrogen dioxide problem in Leicester is attributable to road traffic. Because our instrument looks at the whole city, it can identify when and where the pollution hotspots will occur during a typical day.” He added, “The level of detail we have seen is remarkable. For example, one Saturday we could pin-point the cause of air pollution to a football match, owing to the increased volume of traffic. On hot, sunny days when the air is still, such pollution could pose real health problems to residents”.

This technology will be of particular use to all local authorities in the UK who are currently required to review and assess local air quality to ensure objectives for key pollutants are being met. Its development is particularly timely given the predictions for more UK summer heatwaves with future climate change, and their potentially deleterious effect on air quality in urban areas.

“We will certainly be making this instrument available to Leicester City Council to help it design its current air quality action plan” said Dr Paul Monks.

In addition, the instrument has proven such a success and is so compact that the scientists plan to mount it on a satellite next year, where it can keep an eye on global pollution too.

This research forms part of the UK’s Atmospheric Science Strategy, which is supported by NCAS - the Natural Environment Research Council Centres for Atmospheric Science.

-ENDS-

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. For more information and to arrange interviews with the scientists, please contact:
Dr Louisa Watts, NCAS Science Communication Manager: mobile no. 07786 214886 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Also telephone: 01793 411609 or 0118 378 5586.

Ather Mirza, Director of University of Leicester Press Office: Telephone: 0116 252 3335; out of hours mobile 07711 927821; Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Or direct contact details for Dr. Monks are 0116-252-2141 (office) and 0794 4603-941 (mobile) or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

2. This project is being led by Dr Paul Monks  who is based at the University of Leicester, in the Chemistry Department. Dr Monks and his group design, build and deploy research instrumentation round the world and are particularly interested in how man is changing the composition of the atmosphere. Direct contact details for Dr. Monks are 0116-252-2141 (office) and 0794 4603-941 (mobile) or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

3. This project is supported by NCAS - the Natural Environment Research Council Centres for Atmospheric Science.

NCAS carries out the UK's core academic atmospheric science research programme, including climate variability and climate change. NCAS also provides research outcomes for government policy-making and for the wider UK science base. The NCAS science programme is carried out at Universities across the UK but NCAS Headquarters is based at the University of Leeds. Website: http://ncas.nerc.ac.uk/. NCAS is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council
NERC is one of the UK's eight Research Councils. It uses a budget of about £350m a year to fund and carry out impartial scientific research in the sciences of the environment. NERC trains the next generation of independent environmental scientists. It is addressing some of the key questions facing mankind such as global warming, renewable energy and sustainable economic development.

4. Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) can irritate the lungs and lower resistance to respiratory infections such as influenza. Continued or frequent exposure to concentrations that are typically much higher than those normally found in the ambient air may cause increased incidence of acute respiratory illness in children.

The principal source of nitrogen dioxide is road traffic. NO2 concentrations are therefore greatest in urban areas where traffic is heaviest. Other important sources are power stations, heating plants and industrial processes.

Source of information: The UK National Air Quality Archive (prepared by NETCEN on behalf of Defra) 

5. Leicester City Council has identified that, for some areas of the City, the government health-based air quality objective for nitrogen dioxide (an hourly mean of 200 µg/m3, not to be exceeded more than 18 times per year), will not be met in some parts of Leicester by the end of 2005. These areas include a large section of the City Centre, a number of radial roads and sections of the ring road. These areas have been declared an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA): An AQMA is a zone where levels of pollutant, in this case nitrogen dioxide, are higher than the recommended government objectives and people will be regularly exposed to the levels.

Source of information: Leicester City Council website 

For further information contact:

Dr Louisa Watts
NCAS Science Communications Manager
Tel: 07786 214886
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it


Images

Dr Roland Leigh (University of Leicester, Chemistry Department) standing beside the instrument

Example data from the instrument

Location of Leicester City Council air quality monitoring stations and location of the instrument (denoted CMAX-DOAS)


Media Coverage (updated 03/10/05)

The Mercury newspaper, Leicester - "Tackling City Pollution: Experts are on the Case" (01/09/05)

Innovations Report website - "City-Scale Air Pollution measured for the first Time" (01/09/05) 

Environmental Data Interactive UK website - "Pollution Probe to Cover Whole City" (02/09/05)

British Satellite News (02/09/05)

Midlands Asian TV Channel 6 News

BBC TV East Midlands (04/09/05)