Taking forward the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) resolution: Pilot to determine the air quality drivers for Sub-Saharan Africa

This pilot project, AQD-Nairobi, is designed to integrate low and high temporal resolution low-cost air quality (AQ) measurements to determine AQ drivers in Nairobi and be an exemplar scientific study for sub-Saharan Africa. This collaboration is a new partnership between NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), the Stockholm Environment Institute Africa (SEI Africa) and SEI York. SEI Africa is the secretariat for the Air Quality Network for Kenya, whose membership includes National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI), Kenya Meteorology Department (KMD), the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), UNEP, the Nairobi County Government and the Muungano. Muunagano is a local community organisation supporting urban dwellers in Nairobi's informal settlements, and is the Kenyan branch of Slum Dwellers International.

The inception of the project came through an informal loan from CEH of equipment to a SEI York pilot project in 2015 exploring novel methods of understanding community exposure to air pollution in a Nairobi informal settlement, which was co-ordinated by SEI Africa. The work established the urgent need for chemically resolved air pollution exposure studies to be integrated with more indicative methods. NERC CEH NC and other projects have developed low cost AQ monitoring methods. In particular CEH has developed the science behind two low-cost low-time resolution methods: the active low flow sampling method, DEnuder for Long-Term Atmospheric sampling (DELTA) for measurement of inorganic trace gases and speciated aerosols, and a passive sampler method (ALPHAS) measuring ammonia. Both methods have been applied in networks across the UK and Europe.

Poor AQ is estimated to account for 5.5 million premature deaths annually both from indoor and outdoor pollution. In 2014, the United Nations General Assembly (UNEA) adopted a resolution for AQ which would encourage governments to set standards and policies across sectors to manage the negative impacts of air pollution. Nairobi, Kenya, is a city with poor AQ which frequently exceeds limits for particulate matter (PM) set out by the World Health Organisation. Information on the chemically specific drivers of the poor AQ in Nairobi are poorly understood.

AQD-Nairobi will assess the applicability of integrating low cost-low temporal resolution monitoring with mobile PM sensors to develop air AQ indicators. The experimental component of the project will be a 12 month deployment of monthly resolution PM composition measurements with DELTA samplers at the KMD meteorological station and an intensive citizen science pilot study in Mukuru, an informal settlement in Nairobi. The intensive work will be organised logistically by SEI York and delivered on the ground by SEI Africa and the Muungano. Community champion volunteers will carry the mobile PM backpacks and simultaneously a network of passive samplers will be deployed across Mukuru. Using citizen science communication techniques, simple maps and AQ driver metrics will be disseminated to the Muungano and the Air Quality Network for Kenya stakeholders. Data interpretation and visualisation will be used to deliver information to both individuals and policy-making stakeholders.

If successful, this pilot will deliver an excellent approach for assessing AQ drivers at reasonable economic cost for urban communities. This "proof of concept' international partnership, applying mixed technologies is an essential first step to enable development of large-scale long-term partnerships for NERC in this area. AQD-Nairobi will deliver new science that cannot be achieved by UK communities alone or by existing international collaborations.

The AQD-Nairobi partnership will provide rapid and direct insight into the air quality drivers in informal settlements in Nairobi. This study is targeted at engaging local Nairobi based multilateral stakeholders in Kenya as primary beneficiaries. There is currently no coherent research mechanism that addresses the threats of poor air quality (AQ) in the urban environment as experienced by informal settlements, despite the fact that there is a significant population impacted. The benefits of integrating on-line and off line AQ measurement approaches in a simple, practical way, could advance enormously the power of local people to check the processes affecting their local environment and local planning responses to the air quality threats.

National Kenyan impact: The outcome of this project will provide information on the suitability of low cost sensors and citizen science approaches to examine air quality drivers in informal settlements in East Africa. In Nairobi, this will benefit local stakeholders such as Muungano and the Air Quality Network of Kenya, to provide further understanding of the poor air quality within informal settlements.

International impact: The Muungano is part of the The Slum Dwellers International (SDI) network which has disseminated successfully pilots. Previous pilots under the SDI have led to knowledge being shared globally and changes in conditions occurring for hundreds of thousands of people (http://sdinet.org/2015/12/a-lesson-for-all-orangi-pilot-project-visits-tanzania-federation/). Together with Muungano, Dr Twigg and the project partners will to examine air quality drivers in the informal settlement in Nairobi and focus outcomes into building links internationally to support more joined-up management of the urban atmosphere in areas where there are limited local powers of engagement.

Engagement with other key international organizations such UNEP and WMO-GAW, will lead to a slower but no less important impact by disseminating both data and methodology. This process will be supported through project partner activities within the Air Quality Network of Kenya and other research activities of NERC CEH staff. A key impact will be achieved if the methodology for making small project data such as this, simply accessible locally and globally.

UK impact: Key UK national beneficiaries will be the UK scientific community, specifically the atmospheric composition and air quality researchers, as this study will focus future efforts related to integrated urban measurements in informal settlements, which can feed through to urban modelling. In addition, the UK community will gain information on low cost sensor approaches under different climate conditions.