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Frey, Morgan; Lai, Jonathan; Moody, Lauren; Morfopoulos, Talia

Elemental black carbon (BC) is a primary component of smoke produced by the incomplete combustion of wood. In its particulate form, it poses a risk to the human cardiovascular system. Mobile air pollution monitoring has not been performed before in Sechelt, B.C.; therefore, the distribution of woodsmoke pollution is not well understood. The primary objective of this study was to collect woodsmoke data by mobile monitoring on clear winter nights where high levels of BC from woodsmoke would be expected. This data could then be mapped to determine the spatial distribution of high pollution zones, identifying where they tend to occur. Observing elevated BC levels in one location across several nights would be more significant and concerning than only observing this once. Another objective was to analyze temporal trends in the data to see if pollution tended to peak at a certain time. Temporal trends were also compared across different nights. We performed mobile monitoring in Sechelt on three nights: January 12th, February 3rd and 4th, 2024. A route was mapped out ahead of time with the aim of covering as many streets as possible, to best understand the spatial distribution of woodsmoke. This route was driven back and forth on each of the three nights. The Magee AE-33 Aethalometer paired with a Google Maps GPS were used for sampling; air samples were taken every second. The sample’s absorbance of light is measured at six wavelengths, but only two (370 and 880 nm) relate to BC from woodsmoke. The difference in absorbances at these wavelengths is equivalent to the BC concentration in ng/m3 . These concentrations in conjunction with their respective GPS coordinates were then mapped using R. In addition, inverse distance weighting was used to extrapolate concentrations for the entire district from measured values. High BC pollution was observed in northeast Sechelt on all three sampling nights, in particular near the intersection of Wharf Avenue and Porpoise Bay Road (Figure ES1). Pollution reduction efforts should target this area first. Several hotspots were observed on various runs in southwest Sechelt but they did not overlap in time or space. On all three nights, BC pollution peaked between 10:28 and 10:36 pm. We did not begin the route at the same time each night, so these peaks were observed in different places. BC levels tended to be higher during “Early Evening” and “Late Evening” runs compared to “Night” runs (after midnight), suggesting that BC disperses several hours after it was produced.

Text

University of British Columbia. ENVR 400

Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library

10.14288/1.0442415

Science, Faculty of; Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of

Undergraduate

DSpace