TRAX trains, schools giving researchers better understanding of valley pollution


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SALT LAKE CITY — University of Utah researchers are taking a new approach to watching air pollution with the help of TRAX trains. Several schools along the Wasatch Front also have air quality monitors. Both programs are helping to educate researchers and students on Utah's pollution problem.

Monitoring the air via TRAX

According to researchers at the U.'s Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Salt Lake City is the only major city, so far, to put air quality monitors on the top of light-rail trains.

As the Red Line train moved between Herriman and the University of Utah Monday, monitors were constantly gathering data — showing how much the air quality can differ from the west side, downtown and the foothills.

“As the train sort of goes through the valley, we can get a very, very detailed look at each corner of the valley,” said John Lin, an associate professor in the University of Utah's Department of Atmospheric Sciences.

"The nice thing is the train is running all the time, from early morning to late night, so we get this constant stream of data," he said.

The project started as a pilot program over the summer and is really only now gathering data about the Wasatch Front's winter inversions — where particulate matter gets trapped in the valleys.

The research was funded through the Utah Legislature, which recently appropriated $1 million for pollution research.

Professors at the U. are still working to improve the accuracy of the information they receive and post online, but the data is already giving them a unique look at the air along the Wasatch Front.

"The advantage is we can really get a detailed look in space and time of these pollutants,” Lin said. “There's almost no other way for us to measure it this finely in the city."

Ultimately, U. researchers hope the data will help health researchers better understand the impacts of pollution on people’s health.

An air quality education

Four air quality monitors have also been made available to schools through the Utah Department of Air Quality placed at schools. The monitors are placed with the help of the non-profit group Breathe Utah.

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"Bringing this to schools is really the best way to educate students in a hands-on way, and let them really see the lessons that they can learn about air quality," said Rachel Otto, executive director of Breathe Utah.

Sand Ridge Junior High in Roy got an air monitor on its roof at the start of the school year. Since then, the readings have been both surprising and educational to Maggie Huddleston and her science students.

"Anytime you can take something that's real life for kids and have them actually see, feel, hear, touch, look — it just makes so much more sense to them," Huddleston said.

The school air monitoring program is now in its second year.

Additionally, monitors on KSL TV's Chopper 5 are giving researchers a clearer picture of pollution at various elevations in the Salt Lake Valley.

Contributing: Viviane Vo-Duc

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