The Institute for Transport Studies (ITS), University of Leeds, UK, wishes to raise awareness of a specialised short course it is running in 2008 in the traffic and environment field. The course is recognised by professional bodies as contributing to the attendees’ professional development, such as The Institute of Air Quality Management (IAQM).

The ‘Monitoring Traffic Pollution’ course provides participants with a sound technical and practical knowledge of standard and emerging traffic, vehicular emission, air pollution and meteorological measurement technologies. Efficient data handling and new analysis methods are also covered, including an introduction to a free open-access software package called ‘R’. ‘R’ is a computer programming language developed specifically for the purposes of analysing data. It is proving to be an extremely effective tool for analysing, visualising and understanding environmental data. During the course participants will develop a clear understanding of the interaction between traffic activity, generation of emissions from modern motor vehicles, dispersion in urban streets, impact of management policies and resultant air pollution levels.

The course aims to cover current and future needs of transport and environmental professionals. A particular strength of the course is that all aspects of traffic related pollution are covered, supported by leading research facilities used in demonstrations. In 2009 the course will be running for its sixth consecutive year. Feedback continues to be excellent from both MSc Transport Engineering/ Transport Planning students, and participants from Overseas, Environmental Consultancy and Local Authority backgrounds.