Physical environment: key data sources
The Scottish Executive's Scottish Environment Statistics Online web pages include data for a range of environmental topics (e.g. climate change, air quality, noise pollution, water, waste & recycling, radioactivity, land). Tables can be created online or downloaded as Excel spreadsheets.
The Environmental Health Surveillance System for Scotland (EHS3), maintained by Health Protection Scotland, collates a variety of environmental indicators from Scottish local authorities including air quality levels, radiation, noise complaints and water quality.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) website allows access to a range of environmental data sets.
Scottish Neighbourhood Statistics hosts a number of environment related indicators including proximity to derelict sites and landfill sites, and air quality.
The Scottish House Condition Survey collates in-depth information on a national sample of over 20,000 dwellings in Scotland. This includes details of properties below tolerable standard, in disrepair, with relevant amenities, as well as information on dampness and condensation, energy efficiency and fuel poverty.
A recent (November 2005) report by the Health Protection Agency for England & Wales entitled 'Health Protection in the 21st century - understanding the burden of disease, preparing for the future' includes a wealth of relevant information and data on environmental related factors including: radiation, environmental pollution, environmental inequalities, and chemical incidents. It can be downloaded from the relevant page of the Health Protection Agency website.
Levels of 'cleanliness' of different areas in Scotland can be assessed by means of data collated by Keep Scotland Beautiful's Local Environmental Audit and Management System (LEAMS). This is based on a 2% random sample of streets across the 32 council areas in Scotland.
Transport statistics are available from the Scottish Executive's Scottish Transport Statistics series of publications.
Among other topics, some limited data on transport & travel, and environmental factors, are available from the Scottish Executive's High Level Summary of Statistics: Key Trends for Scotland 2006 publication.
Note also that some limited environment related data (e.g. vacant dwellings, overcrowding, access (drive-time) to GP/dentist/hospital) are included within NHS Health Scotland's Community Profiles (now held on this website).
Environmental data are also available within:
Edinburgh University data library
National atmospheric emissions inventory (NETCEM)
sites