In early 2018, Scistarter and Arizona State University began the process of collaborating with a local community, Boulder Ridge, to measure the quality of its air. Boulder Ridge is a 55 and older retirement community in Phoenix. Over the past three years, Boulder Ridge residents began to notice increased blasting, crushing, and trucking out of rock and dirt from an open stone mine next door operated by Southwest Rock Products, LLC. On days when there were no blasts or trucks, the residents noted significantly less dust in the air and on their cars and houses. However, they felt they had no way to scientifically test and validate whether the air quality changed as a result of the mine’s activities.
Figure 1: Satellite view of the SWRP stone mine (red) and Boulder Ridge (yellow). Source: Google images. In the months that followed, several Boulder Ridge community members and researchers at SciStarter and Arizona State University initiated a collaborative process of evaluating the availability and usability of low-cost air quality sensors. The SciStarter tools database (in development) provided a ready and accessible list from which to choose air quality sensors which might fit the needs of the Boulder Ridge community, and researchers from ASU coordinated with community members on the installation and maintenance of the sensors themselves. From a technical perspective and with leadership from Scott Eriksen, a recent graduate from Arizona State University, the goals behind this collaboration were to A) demonstrate and document the process of validating low-cost air quality sensors against credible reference monitors, B) work with community members on how to access and install their own air quality sensors, C) collaborate with community members on how to interpret data outputs produced by the sensors, and D) use the process and outcomes to inform the design and development of the SciStarter Tools Database.
