What is londonair?

• Londonair is the website of the London Air Quality Network (LAQN), and shows air pollution in London and south east England.
• The website provides information for the public, for policy users, and for scientists.
• The LAQN was formed in 1993 to coordinate and improve air pollution monitoring in London.
• The network provides independent scientific measurements and assessment.
• Establishing and running a monitoring site requires a large investment, and it is not possible to put monitoring everywhere, so we have developed maps and models to predict the pollution levels in between.

Why is it needed?

• Air pollution is a very large public health issue in London.
• The measurements are used to assess air pollution across London, and to track trends over time.
• These measurements are used to create models that can assess how different government policies affect air pollution.
• The measurements help fulfil the local authorities statutory obligations with regard to air pollution.
• The measurements are also used to help with research into the health effects of air pollution.

Who provides Londonair?

• Londonair is provided by the Environmental Research Group of Imperial College London.
• Each individual partner organisation in the LAQN contributes to funding the management and coordination.
• The monitoring is owned and funded by local authorities, Business Improvement Districts (BIDs), TfL and Defra. We support them in choosing the location to best answer the question posed, but the decision to establish a monitoring site lies with them.
• Increasingly LAQN information from within London is being enhanced with measurements from surrounding local authority members, who are often impacted by London emissions.