Title: A Distributed Network of 100 Black Carbon Sensors for 100 Days of Air Quality Monitoring in West Oakland, California

Abstract

Ambient particulate matter (PM) pollution is a significant environmental health risk in urban areas. Dense networks of low-cost air quality sensors are emerging to characterize the spatially heterogeneous concentrations that are typical of urban settings, but are not adequately captured using traditional regulatory monitors at central sites. Here, we present the 100×100 BC Network, a 100-day deployment of low-cost black carbon (BC) sensors across 100 locations in West Oakland, California. This 15 km² community is surrounded by freeways and affected by emissions associated with local port and industrial activities. We assess the reliability of the sensor hardware and data collection systems, and identify modes of failure to both quantify and qualify network performance. We show how dynamic, local emission sources build upon background BC concentrations. BC concentrations varied sharply over short distances (~100 m) and timespans (~1 hour), depending on surrounding land use, traffic patterns, and downwind distance from pollution sources. Strong BC concentration fluctuations were periodically observed over the diurnal and weekly cycles, reflecting the impact of localized traffic emissions and industrial facilities in the neighborhood. Overall, the results demonstrate how distributed sensor networks can reveal the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of combustion-related air pollution within urban neighborhoods.

Authors:

Caubel, Julien J.  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Caubel, Julien J."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-4653-6690"
• Search orcid.org for ORCID "0000-0002-4653-6690"

Cados, Troy E. ^[2]; Preble, Chelsea V.  ^[3];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Preble, Chelsea V."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-6489-5718"
• Search orcid.org for ORCID "0000-0002-6489-5718"

Kirchstetter, Thomas W. ^[3]

---

+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States, Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
2. Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
3. Energy Technologies Area, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States

Publication Date:

2019-06-18

Research Org.:

Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE Office of Environment, Health, Safety and Security (AU); National Science Foundation (NSF)

OSTI Identifier:

1527200

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1530719

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC02-05CH11231

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Environmental Science and Technology

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Environmental Science and Technology Journal Volume: 53 Journal Issue: 13; Journal ID: ISSN 0013-936X

Publisher:

American Chemical Society

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES