Pre-Conference Trainings

These pre-conference trainings are designed to provide some basic background and knowledge to attendees about Air Quality Sensors and applications. Some trainings will ensure attendees have a base knowledge to thoroughly understand the conference content, while others will add to knowledge of applications and ideas discussed at the conference. 

Trainings are 45 minutes each on September 11, 2018 at the Oakland Convention Center and have limited space. Room numbers will be announced to registrants.

These trainings are FREE! Airthinx has sponsored these trainings for all participants! 

4:00 PM - 4:45 PM

1A: Air Quality 101

John Balmes of UCSF

Get the low-down on the basic factors that define the quality of air you breathe. This Air Quality 101 training will focus on the health effects of air pollution on individuals

Register for Air Quality 101


2A: The State of Air Sensors

Trainer: Tim Dye, TD Environmental Services

Air quality sensor use is increasing.  And so are the people and organizations involved in this movement. Attend this training if you're curious about who's doing what with air sensors. The State of Air Sensing will show the wide range of organizations involved in air sensing, showcase interesting applications, discuss what's needed to grow this market, and make predictions for how the air sensor market will evolve over the next 5 to 10 years.  

Register for The State of Air Sensors


3A: Technical Foundations for the Design and Deployment of Sensor Networks

Melissa Lunden, Aclima

Networks using multiple low-cost sensors have tremendous utility to provide real-time information to the public in ways that were not previously imaginable. Sensor networks produce personally relevant environmental data that help community members understand emissions sources and environmental factors that influence hyper-local pollution concentrations and support them to take actions to reduce their exposure.  Successfully designing and implementing a sensor network involves a number of challenges.  This workshop will focus on (1) sensor selection and evaluation (2) sensor calibration, sampling protocols, and data quality processes (3) network design and sensor placement and installation considerations, (4) data transmission, processing, and storage strategies, and (5) sample data processing, visualization, and communication ideas.  The workshop will draw from examples of sensor networks deployed by both community groups and research organizations.

Register for Technical Foundations for Design and Deployment of Sensor Networks


4A: Excel Macro 101: Live demonstration of EPA's Excel-based Macro Analysis Tool

Andrea Clements, US EPA

This tutorial will feature a live demonstration and training on the use of EPA's Excel-based Macro Analysis Tool.  The tool helps users compare data from low-cost sensors to data from regulatory monitors, and interpret their results. It allows input of data from low-cost and regulatory monitors for comparison, even if measurements weren’t recorded at precisely the same time, or were collected at different time intervals, such as 1-minute versus 5-minute intervals. This tool addresses one of the major hurdles in citizen-led community air monitoring projects, which is working with and understanding the data. Link for more information:  https://www.epa.gov/sciencematters/epas-air-sensor-toolbox-offers-new-tools-community-led-air-monitoring

Register for Excel Macro 101


5A: Creating Healthy Indoor Spaces with New Smart Technology

Organized by Pre-Conference Training Sponsor, Airthinx

  1. Demonstrate New Technology that allows for continuous, accurate & precise real-time monitoring of 9 pollutants in any indoor space, whether its a school building, hospital, commercial space, work space or any built environment. 
  2. Helping leaders understand the importance of real-time monitoring and providing actionable insights like identifying sources of indoor air pollution and the cost-savings for remediation efforts
  3. Identify new tools that industry leaders can utilize, whether its visual alerts, email and text notifications for facility management staff, or open apis that enable communication with building management systems

 

Register for Creating Healthy Indoor Spaces

5:00 PM - 5:45 PM

1B: Air Quality 102

Ajith Kaduwela, CARB

Atmospheric processes, such as mixing, inversions, and photochemistry, work together to transport, transform, and create pollutants in the atmosphere. This short course will explain how the atmospheric physical/chemical processes and emissions interact to create the air pollution that we breathe.

Register for Air Quality 102


2B: Air Sensors Tool Box/Guidebook - CANCELLED 


3B: Sensing to Go: Strategies for Successful Integration of Sensors onto Mobile Platforms

Melissa Lunden, Aclima

Mobile monitoring a community using vehicles can provide air pollution data at high spatial resolutions and help reveal unexpected features.  Successful mobile measurement requires addressing a number of unique challenges to assure that data collected using mobile platforms is reliable, useful, and of sufficient quality to support meaningful conclusions. This workshop will address challenges and provide ideas or best practices for how to conduct a mobile measurement campaign.  Specific topics that will be covered include; (1) sensor selection and evaluation, (2) sensing device design and installation for mobile platforms, (3) calibration and data quality processes and what aspect is unique to mobile platforms, (4) mobile sampling strategies, and (5) data processing and visualization techniques.  The ideas discussed in the workshop should be broadly applicable to groups ranging from research groups to community groups. 

Register for Sensing to Go


4B: EPA QAPP 101 - CANCELLED


5B: Community Sensor Training: Best practices and lessons learned for Engaging Communities in Air Quality Monitoring

Vasileios Papapostolou, SCAQMD & Hilary Hafner, Sonoma Technology Inc.

 

South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) is leading a U.S. EPA Science To Achieve Results (STAR) grant, entitled “Engage, Educate, and Empower California Communities on the Use and Applications of Low-Cost Air Monitoring Sensors”. The grant team includes the University of California, Los Angeles; Sonoma Technology, Inc.; community organizations; Bay Area Air Quality Management District; and other California Air Pollution Control Officers Association agencies. This project aims to provide California communities with the knowledge necessary to appropriately select, use, and maintain low-cost sensors; analyze and interpret sensor data. An educational toolkit will be developed to aid communities design and implement community air monitoring projects using low-cost sensors.

As of August 2018, SCAQMD has issued around 400 sensors to 14 communities with more than 70% of these sensors already deployed throughout California. We will discuss our approach, lessons learned, development of best practices, progress made, challenges, and initial findings.

 

Register for Community Sensor Training