Community-Based Air Quality Monitoring with Low-Cost Sensors: Developing a Toolkit, Best Practices, and Lessons Learned
Abstract
The South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is leading a U.S. EPA Science To Achieve Results (STAR) grant, entitled "Engage, Educate, and Empower California Communities on the Use and Applications of Low-Cost Air Monitoring Sensors." The grant team includes the University of California, Los Angeles; Sonoma Technology, Inc.; the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD); other CAPCOA agencies; and community organizations. This project aims to provide California communities with the knowledge necessary to appropriately select, use, and maintain low-cost sensors; analyze sensor data; and interpret the data. Part of the project includes deploying sensors in California communities. Ultimately, a Community Monitoring Toolkit will be developed to aid communities in deploying low-cost sensors. As of August 2018, SCAQMD has issued around 400 sensors to 14 communities, and more than 60% of these sensors have been installed. Community engagement has included initial meetings to inform the community about the project and air quality monitoring; technical workshops to provide hands-on training on installing the sensors, using them, and understanding the collected data; surveys about community air quality concerns and perception; and follow-up conversations with the community to discuss their findings and to gain a measure of the changes in community awareness about air quality. We will discuss our approach, lessons learned, and the development of best practices based on our community engagement experience. We will talk about the progress made, what challenges we faced, and share preliminary training material used in our community outreach that will be incorporated into the Toolkit.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMPA21F1005D
- Keywords:
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- 0825 Teaching methods;
- EDUCATIONDE: 0855 Diversity;
- EDUCATIONDE: 4327 Resilience;
- NATURAL HAZARDSDE: 6630 Workforce;
- PUBLIC ISSUES