Air quality datasets

Measures#

Each measure is one kind of value you can request, using its id.

“Adds up” means you can total it over areas or convert it to other areas. See Measures and periods for why some can't be combined.

Areas and years#

Request each of these with its geography and code year as geography and boundaryYear.

Things to know#

• How many of Defra's 1x1 km PCM cells have their centre in the authority, roughly its land area in square kilometres. It is the weight for the area means.
• Background concentrations are modelled for 1x1 km squares away from the immediate influence of roads and industrial sources, so they are lower than roadside measurements.
• PCM maps from https://uk-air.defra.gov.uk/data/pcm-data. Each cell is assigned to the December 2024 authority containing its centre; a coastal cell whose centre lies offshore of the generalised coastline belongs to none.
• The mean of Defra's modelled 2024 annual mean background nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentration over the 1x1 km cells whose centres lie in the authority: an average across its area, not weighted by where people live.
• The mean of Defra's modelled 2024 annual mean background PM10, in gravimetric units, concentration over the 1x1 km cells whose centres lie in the authority: an average across its area, not weighted by where people live.
• The mean of Defra's modelled 2024 annual mean background PM2.5 concentration over the 1x1 km cells whose centres lie in the authority: an average across its area, not weighted by where people live.

Corrections and improvements#

These reviewed changes apply to what the API serves for this data. The publisher's source files are not changed; when a code correction applies, the served record retains the publisher's code as sourceAreaCode.

curl "https://api.ukdataatlas.com/v1/corrections?measure=air-quality-grid-cells"

Request it#

Get the first page of air-quality-grid-cells for local authorities:

curl "https://api.ukdataatlas.com/v1/data/air-quality-grid-cells?period=2024&geography=localAuthority&boundaryYear=2024&limit=5"

Read the measure's full definition, including every period it's published for:

curl "https://api.ukdataatlas.com/v1/measures/air-quality-grid-cells"

Source and licence#

Downloads#

Download complete publisher-observation files instead of paging through the API. Each file has a stable hash and covers one measure, period set and source geography. Any reviewed served code correction is documented and retains its publisher code on the affected record. The source and licence information above applies to these files too; preserve the attribution and note any cleaning or reformatting when you redistribute one.