The Air Quality in Scotland website

Protecting and improving the air quality of Scotland is vital to safeguard the health and well-being of its people and to achieve the goal of sustainable economic development.

We work in partnership with the Scottish Government, other devolved administrations and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to ensure that air quality standards are achieved and that European and international obligations are realised.

The Air Quality in Scotland website

The monitoring of air quality in Scotland is reported by way of Air Quality in Scotland – a website commissioned and funded by the Scottish Government and launched in 2007, providing up-to-date air quality summaries across Scotland.

The website is a centralised source of air quality information, improving the quality of research and data analysis in order to support and evaluate Scotland’s air quality policies and providing the people of Scotland with air quality information in an easily understood format.

Information generated by and held within the Air Quality in Scotland website

The website contains information and data on:

  • location information on air quality monitoring (including substances monitored for, concentration and trend information, type of monitoring, relevant standards and physical details of the sites)
  • maps and graphs showing pollutant trends
  • analysis and interpretation of data
  • local air quality management information
  • pollutant information (on those substances monitored)
  • pollutant impacts (on a local, regional and global scale)
  • information on the types/methods of monitoring used
  • information on air quality policy
  • air quality standards which must be met for certain substances

How information from the website is used

The Scottish Government reports annually on both the data from the website and the state of air pollution in Scotland.

These reports contain technical information in relation to the operation of the monitoring network and database, and analysis of the data to provide pollutant trend data for individual sites and for Scotland as a whole. Both reports can be found on the Air Quality in Scotland website.

Contact us

To find out more about air quality in Scotland, please contact us or, for more online resources, see our section on Making the Case for the Environment: Air Quality or visit the Scotland’s Environment website for further information.