Using Mobile Monitoring to Evaluate PM2.5 from Wood Smoke
Client:
Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD)

According to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, “wood smoke [is] responsible for an average of one-third of the PM in the [Bay Area’s] air basin during the winter months and almost 70% of the PM in Santa Rosa.” Given the importance of wood smoke contributions to PM, STI conducted a 12-week wintertime study in Santa Rosa to
- Evaluate the spatial and temporal variability of PM2.5 during the winter in Santa Rosa.
- Investigate the representativeness of a single monitor of PM2.5 in Santa Rosa, a city with complex terrain and meteorology.
- Demonstrate the usefulness of modest-cost mobile monitoring to address scientific questions about the spatial distribution of PM2.5.
- The usefulness of mobile monitoring to evaluate the spatial scale of wintertime PM2.5.
- The large spatial and temporal variability of PM2.5 concentrations within neighborhoods (these variations were not detected by the hourly BAM measurements).
- High concentrations coincident with the smell of smoke indicate a likely association with local wood burning.