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

Caubel, Julien J.; Cados, Troy E.; Preble, Chelsea V.; Kirchstetter, Thomas W.

doi:10.1021/acs.est.9b00282

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

Journal Article · 18 June 2019 · Environmental Science and Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b00282 · OSTI ID:1527200

^[1]; Cados, Troy E. ^[2];

^[1]; Kirchstetter, Thomas W. ^[1]

Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)

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.

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Research Organization:: University of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)

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

Grant/Contract Number:: AC02-05CH11231

OSTI ID:: 1527200

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1530719

Journal Information:: Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 53, Issue 13; ISSN 0013-936X

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 43 works

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