Source Attribution - deposition of nitrogen and sulphur to UK

The FRAME (Fine Resolution Multi-pollutant Exchange) model was used to assess the long-term annual mean deposition of reduced and oxidised nitrogen and sulphur over the United Kingdom. Emissions of Sulphur and Nitrogen for input into the model were split into 160 different sub-sectoral emission categories. This included 22 individual point sources and background 'area' emissions of SO2, NOx and NH3 split into 11 SNAP sectors (Selected Nomenclature for Air Pollution, European Environment Agency, 2013), international shipping and European import emissions.

For each 5 km grid square across the domain, pollutant compounds for SOx, NOy and NHx deposition were calculated for all footprints. In addition the output deposition data was split into more detailed chemical species to provide an approximation of how much of each 'source attribution type (e.g. livestock, fertiliser, shipping, etc.) is a short or long range input.

Deposition data was output to three different ecosystem types: forest, moorland (representing short semi-natural vegetation) and a grid average (an average of arable, grassland, urban, forest and moorland). The resulting datasets were calibrated to CBED - Concentration Based Estimated Deposition for the three-year period 2011-2013.

The full methodology is available in the contextual metadata which can be found attached to this record.

The work in generating and compiling this dataset has been funded by the UK pollution and conservation agencies: Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the Environment Agency, Northern Ireland Environment Agency, Natural England, the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH).

This dataset is included in the following collections

Air Pollution Information System (APIS)