Measured air pollutant concentrations from solid fuel burning in Scotland, 2023-2024
https://doi.org/10.5285/e9f39fd7-d181-46d7-a8ef-5cc0c011b932
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This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence
By accessing or using this dataset, you agree to the terms of the relevant licence agreement(s). You will ensure that this dataset is cited in any publication that describes research in which the data have been used.
The Glasgow Townhead and Auchencorth Moss data were processed from raw measurements from the UK Black Carbon Network, obtained from https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/ © Crown copyright 2021 Defra via uk-air.defra.gov.uk, licensed under the Open Government Licence.
This dataset includes detailed measurements of air pollutants related to solid fuel burning carried out during two winter campaigns in Scotland. Continuous black carbon measurements at two routine monitoring sites in Scotland were also processed and analysed to identify solid fuel burning contributions. These measurements and processing were carried out as part of a project for the Scottish Government, aiming to understand the impacts of solid fuel burning on air pollution in Scotland.
Publication date: 2026-06-19
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Format
Comma-separated values (CSV)
Spatial information
Study area
Spatial representation type
Tabular (text)
Spatial reference system
WGS 84
Temporal information
Temporal extent
2023-01-13 to 2025-03-25
Provenance & quality
Two winter measurement campaigns were carried out, in Edinburgh from 13th January 2023 to 6th March 2023 and in Charlestown, Fife from 5th January 2024 to 25th March 2024. Both of these campaigns implemented:
- a High-Resolution Time of Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer to measure aerosol chemical components;
- an AE33 7-wavelength aethalometer to measure equivalent black carbon;
- an optical particle counter for PM1 and PM2.5 mass concentrations;
- a multi-gas analyser (MGA) for key gaseous pollutants; and
- a metstation for meteorological parameters.
The campaign data were processed:
- Using Igor Pro software for the aerosol mass spectrometer data to obtain organic source components via positive matrix factorisation analysis; and
- using an aethalometer model with different values of the Absorption Angstrom exponent to obtain black carbon source apportionment and equivalent PM2.5 concentrations due to solid fuel burning.
Continuous aethalometer data from 2020 - 2024 were obtained for the Glasgow Townhead and Auchencorth Moss sites in the UK Black Carbon network. These data were downloaded and processed in the same way as the campaign aethalometer measurements.
Standard procedures for calibration of the aerosol mass spectrometer and QA/QC of the output data were followed as defined by the manufacturer guidelines.
- a High-Resolution Time of Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer to measure aerosol chemical components;
- an AE33 7-wavelength aethalometer to measure equivalent black carbon;
- an optical particle counter for PM1 and PM2.5 mass concentrations;
- a multi-gas analyser (MGA) for key gaseous pollutants; and
- a metstation for meteorological parameters.
The campaign data were processed:
- Using Igor Pro software for the aerosol mass spectrometer data to obtain organic source components via positive matrix factorisation analysis; and
- using an aethalometer model with different values of the Absorption Angstrom exponent to obtain black carbon source apportionment and equivalent PM2.5 concentrations due to solid fuel burning.
Continuous aethalometer data from 2020 - 2024 were obtained for the Glasgow Townhead and Auchencorth Moss sites in the UK Black Carbon network. These data were downloaded and processed in the same way as the campaign aethalometer measurements.
Standard procedures for calibration of the aerosol mass spectrometer and QA/QC of the output data were followed as defined by the manufacturer guidelines.
Licensing and constraints
This dataset is available under the terms of the Open Government Licence 
Cite this dataset as:
Di Marco, C.; Nemitz, E.; Cash, J.; Mullinger, N.; Hood, C. (2026). Measured air pollutant concentrations from solid fuel burning in Scotland, 2023-2024. NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre. https://doi.org/10.5285/e9f39fd7-d181-46d7-a8ef-5cc0c011b932
The Glasgow Townhead and Auchencorth Moss data were processed from raw measurements from the UK Black Carbon Network, obtained from https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/ © Crown copyright 2021 Defra via uk-air.defra.gov.uk, licensed under the Open Government Licence.
Related
Supplemental information
Please note that the data files contain different time periods, with the campaign measurements occurring in January - March 2023 for Edinburgh and January - March 2024 for Charlestown, while the continuous measurements from Glasgow Townhead and Auchencorth Moss were processed for 2020 - 2024. Further information about the whole project is available in the project report at https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/540833/
Correspondence/contact details
Other contacts
Publisher
NERC EDS Environmental Information Data Centre
info@eidc.ac.uk
Rights holder
Scottish Government
Additional metadata
Keywords
Funding
Scottish Government Award: Strategic Research Programme 2022-2027, project: SRUC-D1-2