AQ Monitor Locations and Specs
The AQ Steering Committee, which includes representatives from the SRA, the Port’s Environmental Team, Metro Vancouver, UBC and VCH, have selected 13 preliminary locations for AQ monitors. Here’s a map. The hope is to place monitors in all of these locations, but that will be influenced by budget and the ability to find organizations, businesses or residents willing to host them.
If you live near any of these and would be interested in hosting a monitor at your house, please let us know by e-mailing us at AQProject@strathcona-residents.org. The monitors will be installed in early 2022 and will be in place for two years. We can provide more details about specific requirements for house power, WiFi, access, etc. For more details about the specific monitors being considered, click here (see below).
The goal is to monitor a variety of pollutants: nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2), Particulate Matter (PM), Diesel Particulate Matter (DPM) and Ultrafine Particulate (UFP). This will require using a range of AQ monitors. The steering committee has recommended the following:
- The Purpleair monitor (https://www2.purpleair.com/ ) – this monitor will measure PM1, PM2.5 and PM10
- The Clarity monitor (https://www.clarity.io/ ) – this monitor measures PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 as well as Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
The steering committee is continuing to explore equipment options for monitoring black carbon (as an indicator of diesel particulate matter) and ultrafine particulate matter in the community as part of this study.
Separate from this project, Metro Vancouver is planning to install a regulatory grade monitor in MacLean Park within the next six months. This will include monitors for PM2.5, NO2 and SO2 similar to those at other Metro Vancouver Stations in the region. This regulatory monitor will be used as a reference monitor within the local air quality study.