Abstract View
Building an Aerosol Sensing Sensor Network and Inspiring Citizen Scientists
KERRY KELLY, Anthony Butterfield, Wei Xing, Katrina Le, Tofigh Sayahi, James Moore, Tom Becnel, Miriah Meyer, Ross Whitaker, Pierre-Emmanuel Gaillardon, University of Utah
Abstract Number: 428
Working Group: Translating Aerosol Research for Societal Impact: Science Communication and Public Outreach
Abstract
Short-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is linked to numerous adverse health effects. Salt Lake City, Utah periodically experiences some of the highest PM2.5 levels in the nation, yet it has historically been sparsely instrumented and often experiences delays of hours until air-quality information is publicly available. Since 2018, the AQ&U network has been collecting aerosol measurements from a growing number of low-cost sensors (more than 200) in the Salt Lake Valley. AQ&U integrates low-cost, research-grade, and reference measurements with robust data screening, event-specific calibrations, and a Gaussian Process model to understand neighborhood-scale PM2.5 concentrations. It provides near-real time visualizations of PM2.5 concentration along with uncertainty estimates through a public-facing website. AQ&U also provides a rich framework for citizen science. Here, we discuss AQ&U’s community engagement strategies, particularly those to encourage participation of under-served communities, and highlight two of our most successful efforts to engage students as citizen scientists. The first effort centers around a hands-on activity to build and test an aerosol sensor from LegosTM and simple microelectronics. It emphasizes the underlying principles of aerosol light scattering. This has been our college’s most requested outreach activity and has been successfully demonstrated at hundreds of high-school classrooms, numerous STEM tabling events, and the National Science and Engineering Fair. The second effort focuses on an interactive, team-based teaching module using local real-world measurements. This activity's goal is to engage students in generating and testing hypotheses while also encouraging citizen scientists to use real-world air quality data for their own interests, such as exploration, science fair projects, or environmental oversight. This second activity has been a successful strategy for virtual learning. Finally, we also discuss lessons learned.