Integrating Data from Satellites and Low-Cost Sensors to Investigate Stubble Burning Effects on Air Quality in Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, USA

SAI DEEPAK PINAKANA, Amit U. Raysoni, Alqamah Sayeed, Pawan Gupta, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

     Abstract Number: 454
     Working Group: Instrumentation and Methods

Abstract
The Lower Rio Grande Valley (RGV) region of South Texas includes Hidalgo, Cameron, Willacy, and Starr counties, and is home to 1,399,446 people (Census Bureau 2022). This area is a majority-minority community with Hispanics/Latinos making up 91.8% of its population.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) which is the environmental agency for the state operates five Central Ambient Monitoring Site (CAMS) stations, one each in the cities of Brownsville, Edinburg, Harlingen, Mission, and Port Isabel. Two CAMS stations monitor O3 and four monitor PM2.5. The CAMS sites are inadequate in characterizing accurate levels of air pollution exposure for the 1.3 million individuals living in the region. According to the USEPA’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for new annual PM2.5 standards (9.0 µg/m3, announced on February 7, 2024), Hidalgo and Cameron counties are now not in compliance (USEPA, 2024).

The Rio Grande Valley annually produces 1.5 million tons of sugarcane in the continental United States. To facilitate the harvesting of sugar-rich stalks, farmers burn the same during the pre- and post-harvest season every year. As part of a NASA ROSES 2022 grant, this project integrates data from NASA satellites and ground-based monitoring stations to assess PM2.5 trends due to agricultural burning in this region. Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) collected by GOES is supplemented by 20 low-cost purple air monitors deployed in various regions to evaluate the air quality trends. Spatial and temporal patterns of the burning activities recorded by the satellites will be presented, along with the data collected as part of this research project. This project is based on the premise that high exposures to air pollutants is a matter of environmental injustice especially for this low-resourced, Spanish-speaking, majority minority region of the U.S.-Mexico border.