Estimating the impact of air pollution on environmentally valuable sites

Concern about the environmental effect of air pollution on areas of high conservation value in the UK has prompted the statutory agencies to initiate an investigation on these areas. For this, critical loads maps have been used together with predicted air pollution data, monitored air pollution data and remotely sensed land cover information within a geographic information system (GIS). Additional information on designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for England and Wales have also been incorporated. This provides the framework for examining potential impacts to these sites under various current and future scenarios. The approach allows for the investigation of the impacts of individual point sources as well as complete national scenarios. Preliminary results are provided from analysis of a single pollutant (sulphur). These indicate that nationally up to 52% of the area of SSSI's (5000 km²) are at risk from soil acidification. Using this approach it has been possible to apportion the load on any SSSI, thereby enabling the ecological impacts of each point source to be identified. This information can then be used to assess priorities for regulatory controls.