Expanding GIANT collaboration across the Atlantic

Setting up outdoor air measurements in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Photo by Henna Lintusaari, Tampere University.

We have measured indoor and outdoor air quality in several European cities, but how comparable are the results to North American cities? Henna Lintusaari and Laura Salo from Tampere University have joined researchers at the University of British Columbia (UBC), Vancouver, Canada, to conduct air quality sampling indoors and outdoors at several locations in and near Metro Vancouver.

The CCAS and GIANT outdoor air sensor measurements up and running. Photo by Henna Lintusaari, Tampere University.

The CCAS project (Community Clean Air Spaces) is run by UBC in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health and uses near-real-time sensor monitoring to observe and report air quality information to the community. Low-cost sensors are deployed at fourteen locations and run maintenance-free, relying on solar power and uploading data directly to a server. The project dashboard with real-time air quality data available for public is found here: https://helloaqdashboard.ca/info. The project aims to inform community members about air quality and its health impacts, and actions they can take to protect themselves. Friendly looking signs with QR-codes that lead to chatting with an air quality chat bot are set next to the sensors.

The sensors measure many gases (e.g., ozone, CO₂, NO₂) and larger particles (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀). The role of the GIANT project is to provide information on smaller particles, the ultrafine fraction, which are produced in abundance by car engines and other combustion sources. We chose sampling locations for the ultrafine particle measurements based on proximity to traffic or other potential sources. Sampling is conducted indoors and outdoors simultaneously.

As a result of the collaboration, we will be able to better understand the relationship between different types of pollution. It will also be interesting to see if there are differences in particle infiltration from outdoor air to indoor air, compared to our previous results from GIANT. Infiltration depends on building properties, atmospheric conditions and particle size, which all vary geographically.

Acknowledgements

We thank the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) for providing a place to setup the sensors and for help with maintenance, and Professor Zimmerman’s group iREACH at University of British Columbia for making this collaboration possible. Special thanks to the CCAS team: Anand Kumar, Hugo Dignoes Ricart, Caroline Webber and Krista Traboulay.

Authors:

Laura Salo

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Tampere University

Henna Lintusaari

Doctoral Researcher

Tampere University