Air quality expert EarthSense has further developed MappAir®, the nationwide map of air pollution, to include historical emissions data.
In an industry first, EarthSense has generated high-resolution maps of historical air pollution for the years 2014-2017. The company used complex modelling techniques and incorporated a range of reliable data sources into MappAir®. This high-resolution map of air quality is available on a nationwide scale down to individual buildings across all of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Providing the annual average concentrations of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particle matter (PM2.5), MappAir® provides an unprecedented level of detail at 100-metre resolution.
The latest version of MappAir® includes satellite data for background levels of air pollution as well as published data-sets to provide an even greater level of granularity and reliability of data.
EarthSense Head of Modelling, Dr Antoine Jeanjean commented: “MappAir® is a data-rich product which is constantly evolving to suit the needs of its users. The latest version has been adapted to provide a never-before seen picture of air quality by incorporating a greater number of air pollution sources such as airport and railways over a longer period.”
MappAir® is validated against air quality data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Automatic Urban and Rural Network (AURN) and diffusion tubes ensuring a high level of accuracy.
EarthSense Managing Director, Tom Hall says: “We are passionate about what we do and are focused on continuous product development. Advances to MappAir® enable organisations such as local government and councils to benefit from evidencing the effectiveness of pollution-lowering initiatives that have already been implemented for several years.
Although it’s been slow, where money has been invested we are seeing the problem improve, such as London. This investment needs to happen on a much faster and wider scale if we want to be a world leading country when it comes to breathing clean air.”
MappAir® is a sophisticated air quality tool with a range of applications for corporate and public sector initiatives. In having the historical information, we provide the ability to better understand past trends in air pollution, using this to explain current air quality features and provide future air pollution projections.
The applications of such a data-rich product are numerous and industry can benefit by accessing the best available air pollution data that is out there on this scale and resolution.