IAP-24-098

Sensing the air: ammonia, ammonia sensors and improving rural air quality

Air pollution is a public health emergency (Holgate, 2022), responsible for an estimated 8.1 million global premature deaths every year (Health Effects Institute, 2024). Ammonia is becoming increasingly recognised by the scientific community as a key air pollutant due to its contribution to PM2.5 formation, as well as directly impacting ecosystem health. It is a growing problem currently facing the UK as well as a problem which will grow in severity in the future as ammonia emissions increase due to climate change and through the potential use of ammonia as an alternative to fossil fuels.

Ammonia sensors are a rapidly developing area with many different technologies being tested primarily for near-emission source monitoring. As with any other measurement which is not a reference, the sensors do need to have standard approaches to collecting air quality data (e.g., the PAS 4023).

The aim of this project is to test the limits of current technologies and understand how they can be used in the rural landscape to enable local stakeholders (including farmers) to understand and visualise the ammonia plumes that cover the country, particularly in spring and autumn. The research will innovatively apply current sensor technologies alongside diffusive sampling technologies currently used in the UK National Ammonia Monitoring Network. The study will pioneer renewable powered systems to be located in nature reserves and protected habitats to visualise the concentration peaks. The student will be able to develop novel engagement methods for supporting the understanding of drivers of rural air quality and validation of models.

The project has four main objectives:
1. Develop an economic standard approach for deploying ammonia sensors in combination with diffusive samplers.
2. Use the flagship long-term monitoring infrastructure at the UKCEH Whim Bog field site to test the standard approach and understand the limits and opportunities of the systems
3. Identify 5-10 case study sites where the local protected ecosystem or human activity area is in proximity to ammonia plumes and deploy sensors in spring and autumn
4. Integrate and visualise the sensor data to communicate to non-specialists the invisible ammonia plumes and how they are interacting with ecosystems. Mitigation interventions in the landscape or in the farm environment can also be explored.

The student will engage with stakeholders, including Natural England, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, NatureScot, UK environmental charities, farmers and land managers

This project will use practical lab and field science (30%), data visualisation (20%), ecology impact science (20%) and stakeholder engagement and science communication (20%). It will generate ammonia data previously unachievable outside of the reference instrumentation which will allow transformative communication of how ammonia plumes move in the rural landscape. The potential methods used in the project are described below in relation to the specific project objectives:

Objective 1: The student will undertake a systematic review of the sensor instrumentation available on the market at the start of the project, including cost, evidence of capability and suitability to be deployed outside. The agricultural and environmental protection literature will be used to scope the specific measurement targets and the measurement fusion methods which can be used to integrate off- and on-line monitoring.

Objective 2: The student will buy suitable sensors and integrate into a field-deployable system with support from the UKCEH technicians. The system will be prototyped for local testing and then scaled up to 5-10 systems for co-location testing to characterise the systems and develop new data communication tools. This will include fieldwork to maintain the sensors where needed. The student will explore how to cost effectively retrieve the data in near real time and build on UKCEH data tools and apps to develop a novel quality assurance and visualisation tool.

Objective 3: The student will undertake visits and stakeholder discussions to design spring and autumn monitoring campaigns, which take into account the stakeholder objectives as well as the scientific measurement. This will include recording ecological protection priorities, farming and business needs and public awareness. The interviews with the stakeholders will cover ammonia pollution mitigation options that are being tested in the landscape and what clean and healthy air would mean for them and their communities.

Objective 4: Undertake three measurement campaigns (spring, autumn, spring or similar), analyse and report data. These will be phased to coincide with spring and autumn agriculture activities.

The student will be supported by an interdisciplinary supervisory team including Dr Christine Braban (atmospheric scientist, UKCEH Edinburgh), Dr Heather Price (environmental geographer, Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Stirling), Dr Pablo Espina Martin, Dr Ulli Dragosits (atmospheric scientists, UKCEH Edinburgh) and David Leaver (Data scientist) the Atmospheric Chemistry and Effects Science Area lab, workshop and field teams

Year 1

• Systematic review (or similar) of ammonia sensor system science and rural ammonia plume science (objective 1)
• Introduction to integrating sensors into systems and ammonia measurement (objective 2)
• Meeting relevant stakeholders and potential study site land managers (objective 4)
• Undergo training on building systems, operation of air quality instrumentation, data analytics and modelling, and other training depending on the needs of the student
• Attendance at a virtual national conference

Year 2

• Field measurements of ammonia plumes (objective 2)
• Stakeholder workshop (objective 4)
• Further training as required
• Attend a national conference

Year 3

• Visualisation tools and focus groups to test utility of seasonal ammonia plume visualisation (objective 3)
• Application of the sensor system to an ammonia mitigation intervention for ecosystem protection and/or PM2.5 formation
• Further training as required
• Attend an international conference

Year 3.5

• Finalising data publication, writing publications, thesis submission

The UKCEH and University of Stirling has high quality training programmes for postgraduate students, with the student being required to attend IAPETUS training and events throughout the PhD. The student will be trained specifically on:

• Multi- and inter-disciplinarity: This research is at the interface between environmental science, social science and psychology. The student will receive training in working within interdisciplinary teams, and effectively communicating between disciplines.
• Fieldwork: The student will receive training in instrumentation and field deployment operations, as well as in undertaking participatory research.
• Laboratory and workshop training, including relevant health and safety
• Data tools and management: The student will receive training in analysing large environmental datasets.
• Translating research into practice: The student will receive training to communicate their research to multiple audiences (e.g. policy makers, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), media and the wider public) and in publishing their work in scientific literature.