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ME34-Overview of the Kansas City TRansportation and Local-Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS)
Citation:
Kimbrough, Sue, S. Krabbe, M. Brown, M. Davis, S. Henderson, S. Brown, S. Feinberg, R. Baldauf, C. Bailey, A. Shields, T. Barzyk, V. Isakov, C. Croghan, T. McArthur, R. Logan, P. Deshmukh, AND R. Duvall. ME34-Overview of the Kansas City TRansportation and Local-Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS). Presented at Air Quality Measurement Methods and Technology Conference, Durham, NC, April 02 - 04, 2019.
Impact/Purpose:
Approximately 50 million people in the United States live within 100 meters of a major transportation facility—freeway, airport, or rail yard. Adverse health impacts have been reported from living in close proximity to major transportation facilities including increased respiratory and cardiovascular occurrences. Community awareness of these studies has heighted concern over sources of air pollutant emissions and local air quality. In mid-October 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated the Kansas City Transportation Local-Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS) to characterize near-source emissions in the vicinity of major transportation sources in Southeast Kansas City, Kansas. Neighbouring communities in Southeast Kansas City, Kansas are surrounded by multiple sources of air pollutants such as light commercial/light industrial, diesel trucking fleets, two railyards including a rail maintenance facility and major highways with diesel truck traffic. The area is also located in a river valley and associated meteorological conditions such as inversions can impact local air quality. The air pollutants of interest for this study are PM2.5 and BC. Fine particle pollution [i.e., particulate matter ≤ 2.5 microns (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC)] is the result of the combustion of fossil fuels used in passenger motor vehicles, truck engines, train engines, industry and forest fires. The study integrates ‘traditional’ measurement methods and instrumentation with lower-cost sensors, mobile measurement techniques, citizen science and modeling in order to address science questions related to the spatial and temporal extent of air pollutant emissions in Southeast Kansas City, Kansas–specifically, the Argentine, Turner, and Armourdale (KS) neighborhoods; identifying and quantifying the impact of local air pollution sources on the Argentine, Turner, and Armourdale neighborhoods and Southeast Kansas City, Kansas; and understanding how local meteorological conditions impact local air quality in these neighborhoods. This presentation will provide an overview of the study and how the different measurement techniques and technologies are being used to leverage and enhance the overall project goals.
Description:
Approximately 50 million people in the United States live within 100 meters of a major transportation facility—freeway, airport, or rail yard. Adverse health impacts have been reported from living in close proximity to major transportation facilities including increased respiratory and cardiovascular occurrences. Community awareness of these studies has heighted concern over sources of air pollutant emissions and local air quality. In mid-October 2017, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated the Kansas City Transportation Local-Scale Air Quality Study (KC-TRAQS) to characterize near-source emissions in the vicinity of major transportation sources in Southeast Kansas City, Kansas. Neighbouring communities in Southeast Kansas City, Kansas are surrounded by multiple sources of air pollutants such as light commercial/light industrial, diesel trucking fleets, two railyards including a rail maintenance facility and major highways with diesel truck traffic. The area is also located in a river valley and associated meteorological conditions such as inversions can impact local air quality. The air pollutants of interest for this study are PM2.5 and BC. Fine particle pollution [i.e., particulate matter ≤ 2.5 microns (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC)] is the result of the combustion of fossil fuels used in passenger motor vehicles, truck engines, train engines, industry and forest fires. The study integrates ‘traditional’ measurement methods and instrumentation with lower-cost sensors, mobile measurement techniques, citizen science and modeling in order to address science questions related to the spatial and temporal extent of air pollutant emissions in Southeast Kansas City, Kansas–specifically, the Argentine, Turner, and Armourdale (KS) neighborhoods; identifying and quantifying the impact of local air pollution sources on the Argentine, Turner, and Armourdale neighborhoods and Southeast Kansas City, Kansas; and understanding how local meteorological conditions impact local air quality in these neighborhoods. This presentation will provide an overview of the study and how the different measurement techniques and technologies are being used to leverage and enhance the overall project goals.