Picton

Picton is a small waterfront town in the Marlborough District located on the Queen Charlotte Sound. It is a popular holiday destination and serves as a hub for recreation and transportation marine vessels for the area as well as the south island base to the interisland ferry systems. Picton has a normally resident population of around 4300 people.

Town Summary

Air quality in this town

Picton is unique in its mixture of housing, industry and being a major port, all of which can contribute
to impacts on air quality. Domestic heating was found to be the main source of daily winter PM10 emissions, accounting for 75% of the daily winter PM10 and 79% of the daily winter PM2.5. On an average winter’s night, around 100 kilograms of PM10 are discharged from all sources (2022 Picton Air Emission Inventory)

Sources of air pollution

Home heating Industrial Outdoor burning Traffic Indoor sources Natural sources

In this town, where do emissions come from?

The split between home heating, industrial, outdoor burning and traffic sources

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Sources of PM₁₀ emissions
Sources of PM_2.5 emissions
Sources of NOx emissions

Source	Annual percentage	Winter day percentage
Home heating	{{emissions.annualhome}}%	{{emissions.winterhome}}%
Industrial	{{emissions.annualindustry}}%	{{emissions.winterindustry}}%
Outdoor burning	{{emissions.annualoutdoor}}%	{{emissions.winteroutdoor}}%
Traffic	{{emissions.annualmotor}}%	{{emissions.wintermotor}}%

Relative breakdown

Annual

Winter day

The table shows the proportions of the main sources of PM₁₀, PM_2.5 and nitrogen oxides (NO_x) in this town from home heating, industrial activities, outdoor burning and traffic. (Indoor, natural and shipping sources are not included in this breakdown).

These values come from 2013 data sourced from MfE’s data service. Consistent methodology was used to calculate these estimates of PM and NO_x emissions, which allows comparison between towns throughout New Zealand. Regional council or unitary authority published emissions information might differ if they were prepared in a different year or used another method. Contact your regional council or unitary authority for more information about PM and other emissions in your area.

The values above come from a 2022 emission inventory report for Picton. Shipping is significant source of NOx emissions, 76% annually and 71% on a winter day, with the remaining sources shown in image above. More details can be found 2383412_Picton_Air_Emission_Inventory_2022-Updated_April_2023_Final.pdf.

Seasonal variation

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PM10

PM2.5

Wind speed (km/h)

Air temperature (℃)

What is this graph showing me?

The graph shows the monthly average PM concentrations at one representative site in this town for the year selected. In many towns in New Zealand, PM peaks in the winter when air temperatures and wind speeds are lowest as more people heat their homes during colder weather, and still conditions mean that there is no wind to disperse the air pollutants.

Sites 1

Monitored sites in Picton

Monitored sites in this town can be categorised according to location:

Residential: Air monitoring site is in a suburban area with a relatively high population density, but not close to a busy road or industry.
Traffic: Air monitoring site is very close to a busy road or intersection.
Industry: Air monitoring site is close to industry, including heavy commercial and processing factories.
Coastal: Air monitoring site is close to the coast where there are high levels of sea salt in the air.
NES: A site monitored for compliance with the National Environmental Standards for Air Quality (NES-AQ).

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No sites found.

Picton

Sources of air pollution

In this town, where do emissions come from?

Seasonal variation

What is this graph showing me?

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