UK Air Pollution Assessment Service (UK APAS)

November 2024

Here's what’s been happening since February 2024 

We have passed the final stages of development and are getting ready for the next phase which involves inviting a limited number of people to use the service for final feedback and improvements. 

All UK Government digital services are named according to their function. Whilst the service is referred to as UK APAS in the development stages and behind the scenes, the public-facing Defra service will be labelled as ‘Get an air pollution assessment’ to satisfy this requirement.  

We are in the process of setting up a call centre and email support for the service.  

Continuing our stakeholder engagement as we approach launch of the service: 

A presentation was given by a member of the project team at the Dispersion Modelling User Group (DMUG) 2024 conference to demonstrate the service and highlight its benefits.  

The project team presented at the Community of Air Pollution Effects Researchers (CAPER) 2024 conference to showcase the service. 

We have continued to work with our partners in the devolved governments, and internal training and webinar events have taken place in Northern Ireland and Wales. Training and webinars are being planned for Scotland and England. 

February 2024

We are working toward Beta Service Assessment and the beta technical testing plan for UK APAS is under development. Beta testing will cover more functionality than alpha and be based on many of the same case study areas. Some new case study areas have been included to cover more geography. The general aims are to: 

• Test features implemented since alpha version.
• Compare the implementation of ADMS within UK APAS to ADMS itself where this is available. The aim is not to have the exact same answer as previous ADMS modelling, as UK APAS has some default values that more bespoke modelling may not have.
• Investigate if using UK APAS modelling would have changed an outcome of a previously conducted air pollution assessment that used a different modelling method such as Simple Calculation of Atmospheric Impact Limits (SCAIL).
• Refine understanding of the meteorological data options likely to be implemented in UK APAS as well as the Quick Run feature, to explore project scenarios and compare to full meteorological data modelling results.
• Test the outcome from inclusion of In-combination Archive sources in at least one beta testing location where data are available.
• Provide a range of case studies that can be used as an external resource to demonstrate the abilities of UK APAS to promote user acceptance and uptake of the service.

Case studies will have an ecosystem assessment focus, however there will be a roads and human health example incorporated into beta testing.

November 2023

The project passed stage gate 3 in October 2023 and has now formally entered the beta testing phase, with new features being introduced. This includes In-combination Archive, QGIS Plugin and Export Report, quick run feature, in addition to refinement and enhancement to help text and guidance on using the tool and service. Additional information on these features is below:

• In-combination Archive is a behind the scenes interface to facilitate in-combination assessment. The database from the In-combination Archive will link with the UK APAS dispersion model tool.
• Export Report Format design is underway. Currently UK APAS allows export of a .gml file that can be imported into the tool to review everything from sources to results. A report will also be produced and sessions are beginning with the decision-makers to find out what they think is essential. This will be used to produce a report format for initial comment.
• QGIS Plugin is a plugin that enables users to upload large projects into UK APAS efficiently
• Quick Run feature is a calculation method that uses a sub-sample of met data and allows for a quicker return on results.

April 2023

This project was previously named the UK AERIUS project. However, as of April 2023, based on user research, the project has been renamed UK APAS (UK Air Pollution Assessment Service) to better reflect what it will offer. 

If you would like to get involved contact us at ITAPA@jncc.gov.uk

September 2022

The UK AERIUS roadshow successfully held four workshops at the end of April 2022 across the United Kingdom. Attendees ranged from those with little experience in air pollution assessments to those with expert knowledge. In total, 81 attendees were involved in the workshops, bringing the current total number of people to have been consulted throughout the development of the UK AERIUS project to 539.

UK AERIUS is a user-led project, guided by the needs of industry bodies, developers, consultants, decision makers and policy makers. The roadshow demonstrated the current progress of the UK AERIUS Calculator to members of these professions and gathered their feedback on future developments they want to see from the tool.

The responses from the roadshow were positive and those in attendance said the tool is easy to navigate and use. Attendees commented on the tool’s ability to streamline the assessment process, benefiting users by reducing costs and the time required to complete assessments.

Ultimately UK AERIUS will empower users to make informed decisions on the sustainable development of plans and projects with a simpler way of considering impacts at an early stage of an air pollution assessment.

A UK AERIUS Pilot Tool has been developed based on user feedback. Throughout Autumn and Winter 2022 the Pilot Tool will be tested by a range of air pollution experts to validate against existing UK risk assessment approaches. The results of this process will be used to implement further quality assured improvements to the tool as we move towards the 'Go Live' phase where the public will be able to use UK AERIUS.

Please get in touch if you want to get involved in the UK AERIUS Pilot Tool testing phase or are interested in learning more by contacting ITAPA@jncc.gov.uk.