Description

Long-duration fire activity during the 2006 northern California fire season presented an excellent opportunity to create a temporary air-quality/smoke-monitoring network in the complex terrain across northwestern California. The network was established through cooperative interagency coordination of Federal officials, the California Air Resources Board (CARB), and local Air Pollution Control Districts (APCDs). This network addressed concerns over air quality and potential firefighter- and citizen-health issues. Equipment deployed included real time PM2.5 monitors (EBAMs and DataRAM's) at seven stations. The reported network data were posted daily on the Internet (in the public domain). The archived field-gathered data set will also provide a database for future research and verification of modeled Blue Sky output for particulate concentrations (run by the University of Nevada, Reno). Lessons learned from establishing and supporting such a temporary network will help make future projects more successful. Overall, the network data were well received, especially by local residents.