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Kansas City Transportation and Local-Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS): Examining Local Air Quality with a Network of Low-cost Sensors
Citation:
Feinberg, S. Kansas City Transportation and Local-Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS): Examining Local Air Quality with a Network of Low-cost Sensors. Air Sensors International Conference, Oakland,CA, September 12 - 14, 2018.
Impact/Purpose:
Low-cost air sensing technologies enable the deployment of networks of measurement sites that would be too expensive with traditional monitoring technologies. These sensor technologies also capture air pollution data at high-time resolution, enabling advanced data analysis techniques. In Fall 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Kansas City Transportation Local-Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS) to learn more about local community air quality in three neighborhoods in Kansas City, KS, with a year-long deployment of a network of low-cost sensors with measurements as frequent as every minute (up to approximately 525,000 measurements annually per sensor). Six sensor pods, including Alphasense OPC-N2 particulate matter (PM), Aethlabs mobile black carbon (BC) monitors (MA350), and meteorological sensors were deployed in the Argentine, Armourdale, and Turner neighborhoods of Kansas City. Additionally, four Met One E-BAM PM sensors were also deployed in January 2018. A preliminary analysis of the data from these sensors examined the spatiotemporal variation of particulate pollution in these community areas and explored potential contributors to local PM. Techniques used in this analysis include separating measurements into slow- and fast-varying components to examine potential local and background PM levels and the use of Nonparametric Trajectory Analysis (NTA) to identify local areas associated with high measured concentrations.
Description:
Low-cost air sensing technologies enable the deployment of networks of measurement sites that would be too expensive with traditional monitoring technologies. These sensor technologies also capture air pollution data at high-time resolution, enabling advanced data analysis techniques. In Fall 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) launched the Kansas City Transportation Local-Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS) to learn more about local community air quality in three neighborhoods in Kansas City, KS, with a year-long deployment of a network of low-cost sensors with measurements as frequent as every minute (up to approximately 525,000 measurements annually per sensor). Six sensor pods, including Alphasense OPC-N2 particulate matter (PM), Aethlabs mobile black carbon (BC) monitors (MA350), and meteorological sensors were deployed in the Argentine, Armourdale, and Turner neighborhoods of Kansas City. Additionally, four Met One E-BAM PM sensors were also deployed in January 2018. A preliminary analysis of the data from these sensors examined the spatiotemporal variation of particulate pollution in these community areas and explored potential contributors to local PM. Techniques used in this analysis include separating measurements into slow- and fast-varying components to examine potential local and background PM levels and the use of Nonparametric Trajectory Analysis (NTA) to identify local areas associated with high measured concentrations.