Overview
Regulatory quality particle measuring equipment is expensive and the distance it can measure various pollutants
is limited. It is not possible to measure the actual concentration of certain pollutants in every area of the state with
regulatory quality instruments. As a result Governmental agencies charged with measuring, reporting, enforcing
and making policy decisions regarding air quality often have limited data
to work with. For example the official particle detector used to report air quality for our
area is located in Norco but PM10 particles (10 micrometers) typically settle out
well before they would reach the Norco sensor from our location.
In the last few years improvements in miniaturization along with economies of scale have
allowed the production of inexpensive yet high quality sensors. Although these sensors
aren't as capable as a $35,000 regulatory quality sensor they are remarkably accurate within known ranges.
Their low cost makes it feasible to locate sensors in areas outside the range of regulatory quality instruments
providing useful information that otherwise wouldn't be available.
Local Program
Our local South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) has been awarded an
EPA STAR grant
to "Engage, Educate and Empower California Communities on the Use and Applications of "Low-cost" Air Monitoring Sensors".
Active residents of our Temescal Valley
community worked directly with SCAQMD's EPA STAR
grant program managers to be part of this pilot study program and obtained and deployed low
cost particle sensors to residents who signed up to be part of the study. On July 26th, 2018
dozens of sensors were distributed free of charge to residents who signed up for the program.
Within two weeks most of these sensors were up and running.
Community Workshop
The most recent community workshop was held on May 15th, 2019. SCAQMD presented progress and findings. SCAQMD Presentation