UK Atmospheric Sulphur and Nitrogen Deposition Estimates 2017-2019

5x5 kilometre grid maps show estimated deposition values for sulphur, oxidised nitrogen, reduced nitrogen, and base cations across the UK, averaged from 2017 to 2019. The dataset provides habitat-specific data for moorland/short vegetation and forest, plus grid-square averages over multiple land cover types. It was generated and compiled with funding from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and UK government departments.

Use Cases

• Calculate critical load exceedances for moorland habitats using habitat-specific deposition values for sulphur and nitrogen components.
• Model spatial patterns of total atmospheric deposition by summing the wet deposition, dry deposition of gases, dry deposition of particulate matter, and cloud droplet deposition components for each 5x5 km grid cell.
• Compare deposition estimates between forested areas and other land cover types using the provided habitat-specific and grid-square average data layers.
• Analyze temporal trends in UK air quality by using the 2017-2019 averaged deposition values as a recent baseline for sulphur and nitrogen compounds.

Strengths

• Data is spatially comprehensive for the United Kingdom at a 5x5 km grid resolution.
• Includes separate estimates for four deposition components (wet, dry gases, dry particulates, cloud droplets) enabling detailed analysis.
• Provides habitat-specific data for key ecosystems (moorland/short vegetation, forest) recommended for critical loads calculations.

Limitations

• Data is an average over a 3-year period (2017-2019), masking annual variability and more recent changes.
• The 5x5 km grid resolution may be too coarse for local-scale or site-specific environmental impact studies.
• Sample data and exact row/record counts are unavailable, making dataset volume and structure assessment difficult.

Provenance

Source

Environmental Information Data Centre, funded by UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and UK government departments.

Collection Method

Generated via the Concentration Based Estimated Deposition (CBED) methodology, likely combining atmospheric concentration measurements with deposition modeling.

Time Range

2017 to 2019 (averaged values).

Freshness

Dataset metadata was last updated in April 2026, but the underlying data reflects conditions from 2017-2019.

Geography

United Kingdom, gridded at 5x5 kilometre resolution.