From Particles to People: Understanding Geospatial Differences in Particle Pollution Outdoors and Understanding Particle-Generating Events Indoors

Kerry Kelly, University of Utah

Northern Utah periodically experiences the highest levels of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution in the nation, and the geospatially sparse regulatory monitors in this rapidly growing urban region struggle to capture neighborhood-scale differences in PM2.5 levels, in part due to this region’s complex terrain. The rapid proliferation of low-cost air-quality sensors offers great promise for providing highly resolved air-quality measurements. However, data quality remains a challenge, and strategies for assimilating this imperfect data are still being developed. This presentation describes a layered framework that includes: (1) the development of a low-cost PM sensor network that incorporates the University’s own sensors and state regulatory measurements; (2) calibration, screening and assimilation methods; and (3) the dynamic visualization of the PM2.5 estimates that can be publicly viewed. Thus far, this network has generated a rich set of PM measurements, capturing several severe PM episodes resulting from persistent cold air pools, fireworks, wildfires, and dust events. The results illustrate dramatic geospatial differences in PM2.5 concentration during some of these episodes that would not have been observed from the regulatory monitors alone. This infrastructure is currently being used by research collaborators studying environmental justice, asthma exacerbations, and simulation of wildfire plumes. The presentation will also discuss how particle-measurement techniques can be used in hospital settings to understand potential transmission pathways of COVID-19.

Biography
Dr. Kelly is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah specializing in the links between energy, air quality and human health. Dr. Kelly has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering form Purdue University, 1988; an M.S. in Environmental Engineering, from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, 1991; and, a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering, from the University of Utah, 2015. Her research is motivated by local and regional air-quality challenges. Dr. Kelly served 8 years on Utah’s Air Quality Board, and she currently serves on Utah’s Air Quality Policy Board. Her work led to an improved understanding and subsequent policy solutions to address the sources of particulate matter during winter-time inversions along the Wasatch Front. Her research currently includes projects to develop the next-generation of low-cost particulate matter sensors, to develop real-time estimates of particulate matter concentration and uncertainty, to help engage high-school and middle-school students as citizen scientists, and to understand virus transmission in hospital settings. She was recently awarded the UCAIR person of the year by the governor for her work. She is also co-founder of Tetrad: Sensor Network Solutions, LLC, a startup that provides low-cost, high-quality, customizable solutions for environmental monitoring.

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