Case Study - Newbury Racecourse DT monitoring

Stuart Michael Associates has been commissioned by David Wilson Homes to install and maintain a network of diffusion tubes in Newbury to assess current levels and spatial variations of nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) concentrations at key locations within Newbury. The results of these surveys provide David Wilson Homes with air quality monitoring data for the residential development at Newbury Racecourse. Air quality objectives for NO₂ are set out in the 2008 Directive of the European Parliament on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe (2008/50/EC). To accord with this European Legislation, annual mean NO₂ levels should not exceed 40 µgm^-3 (concentration in micrograms per metre cubed).

Action Taken

7 DTs at 5 locations were set up in Newbury, one site is a triplicate site, whilst the rest are single sites. Three DTs are located kerbside (within 1meter of the kerb) and four DTs are located roadside (1-5m from the kerb edge). The DTs are exposed for a period of 1 month and the results of the survey provide David Wilson Homes valuable monitoring data.

Summary of Findings

The main findings of the 2013 Newbury Racecourse diffusion tube monitoring network were annual mean NO₂ concentrations ranged from 34 µgm-3 to 59 µgm-3. The highest annual mean NO₂ concentration was recorded at Site 1 in 2013, which is well above the objective of 40 µgm-3.  The annual mean NO₂ concentrations exceeded the annual mean NO₂ objective of 40 µgm-3 at 4 DTs and at 2 locations. This data was collected with good data capture as for the diffusion tube network as a whole. Data capture ranged from 92% to 100% through 2013.