The National Wildfire Coordinating Group's Smoke Committee with assistance from The Nature Conservancy, will hold a webinar focused on the emerging world of low-cost air quality sensors. Air quality sensors are a rapidly expanding segment of the air pollutant monitoring world. There are now low-cost and easily deployable air quality monitors becoming readily available to individuals and communities to better understand the state of their air quality. New technological advances are transforming and revolutionizing the understanding of air quality. These sensors are changing the way air quality is measured and reported around the world. Low-cost and portable air quality sensors are now in the hands of citizens who want to investigate air quality in their neighborhoods and communities. They are a method to monitor nearby sources of air pollutants, including roadways, rail yards, ports, industry and perhaps wildland fire smoke impacts. These sensors are quickly becoming extensive community networks with data available on-line and used by air quality regulatory agencies to understand the movement and extent of air pollution impacts. Although these sensors are not up to the standard of EPA Federal Reference Method or Federal Equivalence Method monitors, they are providing rapid air quality information that can play a role in understanding and avoiding high pollution periods which is beneficial to reducing public exposure and protecting health. These new monitoring tools are also helping assist air quality managers with implementing the nation's air quality standards.

As these extensive networks of air quality sensors develop in communities across the United States and the world, many questions are being asked such as: are the sensors accurate and reliable, how does the data compare to regulatory monitors, what messages are appropriate regarding the sensor values and health. In terms of the land management community, where wildland fire (both wildfire and prescribed fire) plays such a large role in the landscape, how will these sensors and their measurements affect public perceptions of fire and smoke? How will they be used to reflect impacts to communities? These new networks will affect the understanding of air quality impacts from land management activities and decisions. In fact the broad scale availability and proliferation of these sensors led the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) to create an evaluation center for these devices. EPA has also done extensive research into the performance of these sensors as well. The SCAQMD and other Districts in California have begun creating extensive networks across their domains

Presenters: Kristen Benedict (EPA/OAQPS); Ronald Williams (EPA/ORD) - Kristen Benedict is the air sensors team lead in the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards (OAQPS). Her team is comprised of experts across disciplines including ambient and source measurement, health and environmental impacts, permitting, data collection and display, and outreach. She also serves on a joint EPA/State E-Enterprise advanced monitoring team focused on the appropriate understanding, collection, and use of advanced monitoring data.