Air Monitoring Is Helping To Clean Our Town

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Air Monitoring Is Helping To Clean Our Town

• Students perspective of Local Air Quality

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Where Is Darrington?

• Population 1,200
• A small town in the foothills of the Cascade
  Mountains between Seattle and Canada
• Rural environment, logging and timber industries.
  
• Known for our Bluegrass and Classic Rock
  Festivals.

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And beautiful scenery!
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Darrington
But the surrounding mountains can cause air
quality problems.
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Darrington High School

• Student body lt 300.
• Science Club- a diverse group
• Today.
• What weve learned as a result of this work.

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Air Monitoring at DHS

• Continuous fine Pm
• Nephelometer
• Aethalometer

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So what is our air quality like?

• Good in the summer.
• Smog and Ozone not a problem.
• In the winter?

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Wood smoke in Darrington
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Air Stagnation in Darrington
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Comparison to Marysville
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Air Quality DaysThe good and the bad
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Do we violate the NAAQS?
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Annual Average
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What we have learned

• We have issues!

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Our issues are

• Darrington has a pollution problem
• Residential wood burning
• Potential violation of EPA standards
• Changing our behaviors will be a challenge.
• Reducing wood burning will help correct the
  problem.

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What have we learned and how can we make a
difference

• Pollution is a problem in Darrington.
• Especially from wood burning
• Not from the Mill
• We cant change the weather but can change
  ourselves.

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Science Club In Action
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Whats happening now

• Our town is developing a program to replace wood
  burning devices.
• Our science program is now focusing on air
  quality matters.
• We are trying to get more people to see the
  benefits of cleaning our air.
• Every day now we look to see what is really
  happening.

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Our teachers perspective

• Science program and community benefits
• Ties with Biology and Earth Science topics
• Students make broader connections and relevance
  to their own lives and families health
• A new awareness of atmospheric pollutants
• The opportunity for student learning in multiple
  disciplines

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Thanks!

• Please visit us at the poster session for
  questions and more information!

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Poster products
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Less than half the 24-hour standard of 65 µg/m3
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Air Quality and Meteorology

• When there is bad weather the pollution becomes
  trapped in our valley.

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Human behavior and the Weather

• People behave differently as the weather changes
• Winter wood burning
• This adds to air pollution especially when the
  weather is stagnant
• Results impact our quality of life

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Temperature Inversions and Air Stagnation

• What does temperature do with elevation?
• What is a Temperature Inversion?
• What role does Temperature play in Air Quality

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Pollution is mixed out
Normal conditions Temp Decreases With elevation
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Temp Increases with elevation then decreases
Top of inversion
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New Weather products for Darrington
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Darrington Special Weather Tools
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Darrington Special Weather Tools