Sunderland City Council currently has four continuous air quality monitoring stations.

The stations automatically sample and analyse the air around them every 15 minutes.  

The first is a roadside site in the city centre which measures concentrations of Nitrogen Oxides (NO_x) and Particulate Matter (PM₁₀) which are the two main pollutants associated with traffic. The second is a background site situated near the Silksworth sports complex and measures concentrations of Nitrogen Oxides (NO_x) and Particulate Matter (PM₁₀) and also measures Sulphur Dioxide (SO₂), and Carbon Monoxide (CO). The stations also have a "Met" mast, which measures the wind speed and direction.The information is updated daily via a modem in each station.

There are also two small, roadside stations which measure nitrogen oxides only, these are situated in Mary Street and on the junction of Chester Road and Ormonde Street.

Data is collected daily from the Air Quality Monitoring Stations and relayed back to a central computer where it is checked for exceedences of the Air Quality Objectives. 

The data from these stations and from others can be viewed at the Tyne and Wear Information Website - to access the data for Sunderland go into AQM Stations and then click on Puma Centre and/or Trimdon Street.

If you have any questions about air quality in Sunderland please contact us by email or telephone (0191) 553 1661.

Other sites you may find of interest include:-

DEFRA

Air Quality Archive

NSCA