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Mobile Sensors and Applications for Air Pollutants
Citation:
MacDonnell, M., M. Raymond, D. Wyker, M. Finster, Y. Chang, T. Raymond, B. Temple, M. Scofield, D. Vallano, E. Snyder, AND R. Williams. Mobile Sensors and Applications for Air Pollutants. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-14/051 (NTIS PB2014 105955), 2014.
Impact/Purpose:
The National Exposure Research Laboratory’s (NERL’s) Human Exposure and Atmospheric Sciences Division (HEASD) conducts research in support of EPA’s mission to protect human health and the environment. HEASD’s research program supports Goal 1 (Clean Air) and Goal 4 (Healthy People) of EPA’s strategic plan. More specifically, our division conducts research to characterize the movement of pollutants from the source to contact with humans. Our multidisciplinary research program produces Methods, Measurements, and Models to identify relationships between and characterize processes that link source emissions, environmental concentrations, human exposures, and target-tissue dose. The impact of these tools is improved regulatory programs and policies for EPA.
Description:
Executive Summary The public has long been interested in understanding what pollutants are in the air they breathe so they can best protect their environmental health and welfare. The current air quality monitoring network consists of discrete stations with expensive equipment operated by state and local agencies. Because both the number of stations and the pollutants they measure are limited, location-specific data are relatively sparse. Thus, actual concentrations to which individuals are exposed each day are generally unknown. Significant advances in mobile sensors and software applications offer unique opportunities for citizen-based sensing that could ultimately help fill these gaps. The Innovation Team of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Research and Development (ORD) is leading an initiative to understand the state of progress for mobile sensors and applications for air pollutants. Key objectives are to identify opportunities for strengthening current monitoring programs and to catalyze and facilitate community-based monitoring.