Detecting and measuring the impacts of upland prescribed burning on air quality

Upland burning for grouse shooting has long been a contentious land management practice in the UK, with growing evidence on its negative impacts to ecosystem services such as carbon storage, natural flood management and biodiversity. This paper explores the significant, yet often underrepresented, consequences of prescribed burning on air quality and public health. We examine how air quality can be measured using a combination of citizen science, remote sensing technologies, and established air quality monitoring networks via a series of case examples. We then argue that by triangulating these methods we can better understand the extent and distribution of burning events in remote upland areas.

These contributions regarding the impacts of burning and novel monitoring strategies are especially important in the broader UK context, with a particular focus on England considering the 2025 consultation on the future of burning policies. They also contribute to a broader imperative to better understand and regulate the environmental impacts of land-use practices. Our contribution highlights not only the technical possibilities for improved monitoring, but also the social and political dimensions of upland burning, emphasising how people and places are directly affected in ways that have been underrepresented in existing literature. In doing so, we provide timely insights to inform evidence-based policy development and support more sustainable and equitable approaches to land management in the English uplands.