The UoB Campus Air Quality Network

The UoB Campus Air Quality Network shares near real-time air quality information from a network of monitors located around the University of Birmingham campus. Its aim is to make air quality visible, understandable, and easy to check for staff, students, visitors, and the wider Birmingham community.

The network helps people understand how conditions change across campus and what may be influencing them, such as traffic, construction, weather, long range pollution events, and day-to-day energy use. By bringing these patterns into view, the network helps build a clearer picture of what shapes the air around us.

The data is shared freely and openly to support education, raise awareness and encourage engagement with air quality across the campus and beyond.

This initiative has been made possible thanks to the University of Birmingham Alumni Impact Fund.

The network uses solar-powered outdoor AirGradient monitors (Figure 1) to provide indicative readings for several key air quality indicators:

• PM_2.5 (fine particulate matter with diameters less than 2.5 µm) - very small particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs
• PM₁₀ (particulate matter with diameters less than 10 µm) - larger particles often linked to dust, construction activity, and the resuspension of surface materials
• CO₂ (carbon dioxide) - a useful indicator of combustion-related activity (e.g. traffic emissions) and ventilation influences; it is also the most important climate change-related emission
• NOx (nitrogen oxides) - commonly associated with combustion sources, particularly road traffic
• TVOCs (total volatile organic compounds) - a broad indicator covering a wide range of compounds released from fuels, solvents, and other sources

Learn more about the importance of air pollution here on the World Health Organisation (WHO) website.

You can explore the latest campus air quality levels using the links below.

This interactive map provides a quick visual summary of conditions at each monitored location across campus. The colour of each marker indicates the air quality level, and selecting a marker reveals advice and insights on the air quality for that site.

For a more detailed all-in-one view of the latest monitor readings, the tabular display is a handy tool. This shows the latest atmospheric measurements at each site, together with an “Outside Average” across all locations. Similar to the map, the colour indicates the air quality level.

Note on interpretation: These sensors provide indicative, community-facing measurements, not regulatory compliance monitoring. Readings can be influenced by low-cost sensor limitations. Solar power availability will influence measurement frequency.

• Dylan Sanghera (lead)
• Dr Dimitrios Bousiotis
• Professor Francis Pope
• Thomas Wynn

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Birmingham.