Our partners at the University of Colorado Boulder have developed portable, low-cost air monitoring equipment, empowering citizen scientists and small communities like the North Fork Valley to continually measure air quality in a scientifically meaningful but cost-effective manner.
This affordable next-generation technology, known as EJ-Pods, will allow us to locate monitoring stations throughout the valley, giving us both spatial and temporal data on air pollution sources and transport. This equipment continuously collects data on carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, and total volatile organic compounds. Some monitors will have additional arrays for VOC differentiation and methane detection. Data will be validated by comparing results with those of high-cost, commercial air quality monitoring equipment.
Small in both stature and power requirement, the equipment can be powered by either a wall outlet or battery. Air quality data is written to an SD card, which will be retrieved by Conservation Center volunteers every two to three weeks.Category:
Air & Water Quality