Tang, Y.S. et al

Monthly atmospheric ammonia, acid gas, inorganic aerosols and base cation concentrations from Northern Ireland DELTA gas and aerosol monitoring network, 2019-2020

https://doi.org/10.5285/55ad7cf8-fc40-4b8a-9d35-ce970a915ff6 Cite this dataset

This dataset is from the Northern Ireland (NI) DELTA® Gas and Aerosol Monitoring Network, and consists of monthly atmospheric concentrations of inorganic, water-soluble, reactive gases and aerosols measured with the UKCEH DELTA® method at 4 sites across NI for the years 2019 to 2020.
• Gases: ammonia (NH3), nitric acid (HNO3), sulphur dioxide (SO2)
• Aerosols: ammonium (NH4+), nitrate (NO3-), sulphate (SO42-), chloride (Cl-), sodium (Na+), calcium (Ca2+), Magnesium (Mg2+)

The network is operated jointly by Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), and funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA), Northern Ireland.

Publication date: 2022-05-25

Where/When

Study area
Temporal extent: 2019-01-01 to 2020-01-01

Provenance & quality

Monthly DELTA® air samplers were prepared and analysed by the UKAS accredited UKCEH Lancaster Laboratory, following protocols and procedures in manuals and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) developed and adopted in the UK National Ammonia Monitoring Network (NAMN) and UK Acid Gas and Aerosol Monitoring Network (AGANet), operated also by UKCEH.

Measurement frequency was monthly, with monthly site visits (± 5 days of the 1st of each calendar month) by a network of trained local site operators to exchange samples.

Sample exposure information (manual transcription from site recording sheets) and raw chemistry data files from analysed air samples (csv files) are stored, combined and processed in an oracle-based database (AAGA) to calculate and output calculated gas and aerosol concentrations via a ShinyApp.

Output files are in a standardised reporting template, with data quality flags (based on flags defined in ebas; https://projects.nilu.no/ccc/flags/). Each output file generated are time-stamped, with versioning control.

Ratified data were generated following a multi-stage, iterative review process, with both automatic and manual data checks, in accordance with procedures in the AAGA data processing system and data review SOPs.

This dataset is included in the following collections

Northern Ireland ALPHA® and DELTA® monitoring networks

Supplemental information

UKEAP National Ammonia Monitoring Network (NAMN)

UKEAP Acid Gas and Aerosol Network (AGANet)

UKEAP National Ammonia Monitoring Network – atmospheric ammonia gas and ammonium aerosol data (since 1996)

UKEAP Acid Gas and Aerosol Network – atmospheric acid gas and aerosol data (since 1999)