Grantee Research Project Results

Recreator crowdsourcing of particle levels during wildfires

EPA Grant Number: SU840571
Title: Recreator crowdsourcing of particle levels during wildfires
Investigators: Clark, Kayla , Knapp, Corrine , Murphy, Shane Michael , Abashidze, Nino
Current Investigators: Clark, Kayla , Galley, Annalee , Helm, Colter , Ludwig, Logan
Institution: University of Wyoming
EPA Project Officer: Page, Angela
Phase: I
Project Period: August 1, 2023 through July 31, 2024
Project Amount: $25,000
RFA: 19th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet Request for Applications (RFA) (2022) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Air Quality

Description:

Natural resource dependent communities of the Rocky Mountain West are transitioning from extraction-based economies to those centered around outdoor recreation and tourism. The State of Wyoming, which is majority public land (52.5%) and historically dependent on mining and agriculture, represents one of the fastest growing and most locally important outdoor tourism sectors in the nation. However, wildfires of increasing intensity and frequency in the US West create air pollution conditions that threaten the sustainability and viability of the emerging outdoor recreation and tourism sector. The intermittency of air quality conditions at potential outdoor recreation sites during local and non-local wildfires create a technical need for crowdsourcing of air quality data. Collecting and distributing local air quality conditions at population recreation sites will enable outdoor recreators to make informed decisions about recreation site selection and navigate intermittently changing air quality conditions. Together, these behavioral responses to new, available air quality information will enhance the resilience of an important community and industry that depends on timely and accurate conditions knowledge in remote locations where air quality monitoring sensors are likely to be cost-prohibitive to install.

Objective:

The proposed project will design a mobile application for use by outdoor recreators (e.g., rock climbers, hikers, mountain bikers, etc.) who routinely use backcountry trail systems. Notable and predetermined landmarks and recreation sites that offer uninterrupted viewsheds will be pre-programmed into the application. At these predetermined sites, backcountry recreators will replicate a pre-loaded image of the viewshed with their mobile device camera. The image will be timestamped for immediate or delayed upload to a cloud-based server controlled by the project team. Replication-style images will be processed to infer particle air pollution conditions by correlating the distances of known and visible landmarks within the image (e.g., measuring visibility) with air quality readings from sensors that our team will temporarily deploy. Air quality conditions will be translated into interpretable site selection recommendations delivered automatically to other users.

Approach:

Consistent with the focus of the People, Prosperity and Planet (P3) Award Program, the project design will improve quality of life, economic prosperity and environmental protection by (i) supporting better informed recreation-based decision-making that will enhance user experience (quality of life), (ii) mitigating exposures to harmful particle pollution (quality of life), (iii) adapting an emerging industry of increasing importance to the threat of unpredictable and worsening air quality conditions (economic prosperity) and (iv) identifying and prioritizing recreation sites for retention and development that are most essential to the viability of active outdoor recreation during the wildfire season (environmental protection).

Expected Results:

The mobile application and its distribution will be deeply rooted in the local community and designed as a “digital passport” that incentivizes its use. Users will be rated for the frequency and completeness of image uploads achieved. Local small businesses and organizations, such as mountain bike retailers, backcountry retail stores and the Chamber of Commerce, will be enrolled to provide further retail and visitation-based incentives to active users. The application is also expected to be used and advertised by these small business and organizations that tend to be the first point of contact with local and non-local recreators. Results: We expect that the mobile application will gain widespread use in the Albany County, Wyoming outdoor recreation community. During the wildfire season, we expect to see changes in backcountry site selection behavior with substitution occurring from high to lower particle level locations. Image replication uploads will serve as an indicator for mobile application use and built-in user location tracking will be used to determine substitution behavior in response to air quality conditions.

Supplemental Keywords:

sustainable tourism, interactive development tools, citizen science

Progress and Final Reports:

Final Report