Data for Air Pollution Models 

The principal role of the NAEI is to provide the emissions, activity and emission factor data for international inventory compliance reporting.  This requires the inventory to follow certain guidelines that define the pollutants and source sectors included and represented, the geographical coverage and estimation methodologies used.  Information from the NAEI is also the cornerstone of air quality management and climate change mitigation strategies. 

Air quality management on a national, regional and local scale often uses atmospheric dispersion and chemical transport models that are critically dependent on emissions information as core input data.  Thus, the air pollution modelling community is another key stakeholder in the inventory, but depend on additional datasets that are not routinely generated as part of the normal inventory compilation process.

A number of emissions inventory datasets required by modellers have been prepared or updated by the NAEI and are placed together on this section of the website.  Data are made available as spreadsheets or emission maps, or through links to other parts of the NAEI websites or other external sites.  Other information or background information behind the data are provided in reports or briefing notes.  These explain the data made available and the sources and methods used to obtain them.

The information includes the following:

• UK emission maps for 2005 consistent with the latest version of the NAEI: NO_x, PM_2.5, PM₁₀, NMVOCs, NH₃, SO₂ and CO.
• Source and pollutant-specific emission scaling factors.  These are designed for scaling UK emissions in the 2005 or 2011 emission maps to represent spatially-resolved emissions in intermediate years or for 2020, all on a consistent basis so that the differences in emissions between years reflects actual changes in emissions and not methodological changes.
• Temporal emission profiles for creating hourly emissions from the annual totals for non-agricultural sources: by main SNAP source sector: NO_x, SO₂, NMVOCs, PM₁₀, and NH₃. 
• Temporal emission profiles for creating monthly emissions from the annual totals of ammonia emissions from agricultural sources.
• More detailed information on temporal variation in emissions from road transport sources.
• Recommendations on sources of emission release characteristics for point sources (stacks database).
• Recommendations on spatially-resolved emissions data for Europe (excluding the UK) and projected emission scaling factors to develop spatially-resolved European emissions inventory data for 2020.
• Recommendations on methods for modelling biogenic VOC emissions (report by University of Lancaster).
• NMVOC speciation profiles by source sector.
• Recommendation of primary NO₂ factors (f-NO₂) for non-transport and transport sources.

The information will be updated periodically or annually in some cases.  The NAEI welcomes feedback on users on how the information can be improved.

This information does not replace more routine emissions information produced annually by the NAEI such as the UK emissions inventory time-series (1970-latest inventory years), 1x1km emission maps for the latest inventory year and the emission factor information on other parts of the NAEI website:

Page last modified: 06 May 2014