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Table 3 Details of the datasets acquired and ward-level measures derived for the key environmental factors.

From: Evidence-based selection of environmental factors and datasets for measuring multiple environmental deprivation in epidemiological research

Key factor

Specific aspect

Data source

Ward-level measure derived

Air pollution

Particulate matter (PM10)

Ozone (O3)

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)

Sulphur dioxide (SO2)

Carbon monoxide (CO)

AEA Technology (1 km grids, annual average concentrations, modelled from National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI) data, 1999-2006)

Population-weighted average of each pollutant (averaged 1999 to 2003 for all except CO: 2001 to 2006)

Climate

Average temperature

Cooling degree-days1

Heating degree-days2

Winter coldwave duration3

Summer heatwave duration4

Meteorological Office UK Climate Impact Programme data (5 km grids, 1996-2003)

Population-weighted average of each climate variable (averaged 1999 to 2003, except for coldwaves and heatwaves: 1996-2000)

UV radiation

-

UVB Index [57] calculated using Meteorological Office monthly cloud cover data (1 km grid, 1991-2000) and latitude

Population-weighted average UVBI (1991 - 2000)

Industrial facilities

Waste management sites

Metal production/processing sites

European Pollutant Emission Register (EPER) (grid references, 2001-2002)

Proportion of population living within 4 km of waste site or 1.6 km of metal site (2001 - 2002)

Green space

-

Generalised Land Use Database (GLUD, England only, 2001) and Coordination of Information on the Environment (CORINE) Land Cover Data (UK, 2000)

Modelled GLUD % green space using CORINE variables and population density (2001) (R2 = 0.95), then used model to predict % green space for whole UK

  1. 1 no. of degree-days above 22°c
  2. 2 no. of degree-days below 15.5°c in winter months
  3. 3 no. of days with daily minimum >3°C below 1961-90 daily normal for ≥5 consecutive days (Nov-Apr)
  4. 4 no. of days with daily maximum >3°C above 1961-90 daily normal for ≥5 consecutive days (May-Oct)