AIDC project number: 1505
Srijan Aggarwal
University of Alaska Fairbanks & CESTiCC
In this research near-roadway concentrations of PM2.5 and PM0.1 will be monitored in the Fairbanks and North Pole regions, in partnership with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) at five key roadside locations in the FNSB region. Since the monitors are in locations that are representative of the exposure experienced by pedestrians and others (e.g., bicyclists) using sidewalks they can help us better understand the seasonality of air quality as experienced by non-motorized transportation users in the FNSB. The data will be analyzed to understand the correlations between PM2.5 and PM0.1, understand seasonal variation, assess exposure level concentrations and make comparisons to data from fixed location non-roadway monitors, as well as historical data collected by the FNSB. Additionally, correlations will also be drawn with Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) data obtained from Alaska Department of Transportation (AK-DOT).
This research project has the following three major objectives:
a) Explore the correlations between roadside PM2.5 and PM0.1 measurements in the FNSB.
b) Explore the dependence of roadside air quality on traffic stream characteristics (e.g., traffic volume, speed, composition) and meteorological conditions (e.g., temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed).
c) Investigate historical (years 2013-14) wintertime on-roadway PM2.5 data collected by the FNSB Air Quality Division for spatiotemporal variation and correlation with weather parameters.
