Air quality automatic and non-automatic monitoring in Northern Ireland is currently a mixture of that carried out by the Department and that undertaken by district councils. Air Quality reports for NI for 2004 to 2008 can be found at: http://www.airqualityni.co.uk/reports.php?n_action=report
The most recent Air Quality monitoring report for 2008 can be downloaded from Air Quality Monitoring Report 2008 (856kb)
The Department has a multi-pollutant station in Lombard St in Belfast (see photo below), as well as ozone and particulate (PM10) monitors at a rural site at Lough Navar in Co. Fermanagh.
The multi-pollutant automatic site located in Lombard Street in Belfast monitors sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, ozone, nitrogen oxides and particulates (PM10 and PM2.5). It also monitors particulate carbon, benzene and heavy metals. More details on the site can be obtained from the Environmental Protection department of Belfast City Council who maintain the site.
Tel No: (028) 90270428 or e-mail: envhealth@belfastcity.gov.uk
Monitoring of poly-aromatic hydrocarbons (PaHs), now takes place in Lisburn, Derry, and Ballymena.
In addition to the Department's sites, several councils are currently involved in a national non-automatic nitrogen dioxide diffusion tube monitoring network, which commenced in 1993. Further details can be found at: http://www.airquality.co.uk/no2caldr.php
In additon, black smoke is measured at locations in Strabane and Dunmurry as part of a national network. Further details can be found at:
http://www.airquality.co.uk/monitoring_networks.php?n=bsmoke
A multi-pollutant site, similar to the Department's Belfast site, has been operated by Derry City Council since 1997 at Brooke Park.
Data from these sites is widely available through their integration into the national government networks which provide for quality assurance and quality control of the data as well as analysis and comparison in a national context.
Additional new sites have been commissioned by district councils. These sites have been funded by the Departments' local air quality grant scheme and have been used to collate data necessary for the review and assessment of local air quality. Air quality information from all these sites is available at www.airqualityni.co.uk
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