The volcanic ash cloud from the Eyjafjallakull volcano once again grounded flights from Northern Irish airports between 4th and 5th May.
Currently there is a cloud of volcanic ash situated over the UK, caused by the eruption of the Eyjafallajokull volcano in Iceland. This cloud of volcanic ash has grounded most flights from UK airports, due to the dangers to aircraft engines from the fine abrasive dust. Current 96 hour back trajectory clearly indicate that air arriving over the UK has originated from Iceland.
The air mass back trajectories agree closely with the graphics issued by the Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, VAAC, showing the plume’s location. This shows that the ash cloud originated over Iceland and then travelled eastward towards Scandinavia, before heading South West towards the UK.
Currently the cloud of volcanic ash is estimated to be at an altitude of between 6 -11km; the likelihood of it grounding in the next 24 hours over the UK and its effect on ground level air quality is therefore expected to be minimal. Current PM10 concentrations are low as measured by AURN air monitoring stations. There is at the present time no apparent significant rise in PM10 levels due to the cloud. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and advise of any developments.
A review published today details the findings and subsequent recommendations of the In-House Policy Consultancy (IHPC) report into Local Air Quality Management (LAQM).
Download the Review of Local Air Quality Management - A report to Defra and the devolved administrations
The report was commissioned by Defra and the Devolved Administrations to assess the operation of local air quality management in the UK and to make recommendations with a view to:
1. Improving air quality outcomes
2. Making better use of available LAQM resources
A Questionnaire Survey of UK Local Authorities on the Local Air Quality Management Process accompanies the review. The survey, also commissioned by Defra and the Devolved Administrations, was undertaken by the University of West of England and Air Quality Consultants. 239 local authority air quality practitioners submitted responses to the questionnaire, which drew out the strengths and weakness of the current system, as well as opportunities for improving it. The results of the survey are very much in line with the conclusions reached in the IHPC review.
Defra welcomes the review and questionnaire survey, and will be considering the recommendations in conjunction with the Devolved Administrations.
Defra and the devolved administrations have today published the document 'Air Pollution: Action in a Changing Climate'.
This 'forward look' document highlights the additional health benefits that can be achieved through closer integration of air quality and climate change policies in future. It doesn’t replace the current air quality strategy (AQS) but accounts for the rapid development of climate policy since the AQS was published in 2007. Defra is now considering how to take forward the key messages in this document, which will of course help to shape the direction of the next air quality strategy.
A number of changes have recently been made to the Local Air Quality Management tools available on the Northern Ireland Air Quality website at www.airqualityni.co.uk/laqm_sca.php. The new tools should be used for new work. If work has already been started using the old set of tools, it is not necessary to go back and repeat the work unless the local authority believes that this would be appropriate. So long as models have been appropriately verified against local measurements, the updates to the tools should not invalidate work already carried out, even though precise results would be different. The changes are as follows:
1) The Emission Factor Toolkit (EFT) has been updated to use the DfTs latest vehicle emission factors (published in 2009). This allows modellers to calculate vehicular emissions in line with the latest predictions. It is possible for users to incorporate the emissions that they calculate using the EFT into most dispersion models (but not screening tools such as DMRB).
2) The NOx to NO2 calculator has been updated. These changes take account of more recent predictions of oxidant levels across the UK and also use revised default values for primary NO2 (fNO2) (as shown within the spreadsheet).
3) The national maps of background air pollutant concentrations have been updated to take account of more recent emissions predictions and updated methods. A short report describing the principal changes between the two sets of maps is included on the website along with the maps.
4) The sector-removal tool for calculating sector-adjusted background nitrogen dioxide concentrations has been updated following changes to the background mapping methodology.
5) The future-year projection factors for roadside monitoring data contained in Box 2.1 of LAQM.TG(09) have been updated.
All of these tools can only be applied to data from the year 2008 onward. A FAQ on modelling conditions prior to 2008 will follow soon.
If local authorities require any help or clarification they should contact the Review and Assessment Helpdesk.
The Department of the Environment has issued a consultation document including draft Air Quality Standards Regulations (NI) 2010. The Regulations will transpose Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe. The closing date for comments is 1st April 2010.
This brochure is the seventh in a series of annual reports on air quality in Northern Ireland. It provides a summary of air quality monitoring carried out on behalf of Government and by District Councils during 2008. It is also available with previous issues in the Reports section of the website.
In the UK over the last two years and more, there has been a steady replacement of old TEOM PM10 monitors with reference equivalent instruments. This has happened both in the national monitoring networks for European Directive compliance, and at the regional and local level for local air quality management purposes.
The current PM10 air quality index for reporting real-time public information from TEOM monitors is not directly transferable to other reference equivalent monitors and therefore requires updating. The results of the PM10 equivalence programme (carried out between November 2004 and January 2006) have been analysed to develop an equation relating old TEOM data to reference equivalent monitors as follows:
Reference equivalent PM10 = TEOM x 1.3 - 2.2494
On this basis the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants (COMEAP) have agreed the air quality index for PM10 and breakpoints for "Low","Moderate","High" or "Very High" pollution can be assigned to old TEOMs or reference equivalent data. For further details of the background to this and proposed changes please see the attached short paper here.
Analysis of this recent air pollution episode is provided in the following short report.
Download here (313 KB PDF)All links open in a new window to external websites.
