UK Critical Load Exceedance Maps for Acidity and Nitrogen 2019-2021

United Kingdom 1x1 km resolution maps quantify exceedances of acidity critical loads for eight habitats and nutrient nitrogen critical loads for thirteen habitats. The data, generated for UK policy assessment, measures excess acid or nitrogen deposition above levels set to protect sensitive ecosystems from 2019 to 2021.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial patterns of acidity critical load exceedance across eight UK habitat types to identify high-risk regions.
• Model relationships between nitrogen deposition and nutrient nitrogen critical load exceedance for thirteen sensitive habitats.
• Assess policy effectiveness by tracking changes in Average Accumulated Exceedance (AAE) values for acidity and nitrogen over time.
• Cross-reference 1x1 km AAE data with UK Concentration Based Estimated Deposition (CBED) data to validate deposition models.

Strengths

• Provides 1x1 km spatial resolution for detailed geographic analysis.
• Covers exceedance data for eight acidity-sensitive and thirteen nitrogen-sensitive habitat categories.
• Based on UK Concentration Based Estimated Deposition (CBED) data for the 2019-2021 period.

Limitations

• Data is static for a three-year period (2019-2021) and may not reflect recent changes.
• Analysis requires understanding of specialized ecological metrics like Average Accumulated Exceedance (AAE) and critical loads.
• Spatial join with other UK datasets is needed for broader environmental or socioeconomic analysis.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre

Collection Method

Calculated using UK 1x1 km Concentration Based Estimated Deposition (CBED) data under Defra-funded work.

Time Range

2019-2021

Freshness

Data reflects conditions from 2019-2021; metadata was updated in March 2026.

Geography

United Kingdom