Undergraduate Research Training on New Remote Sensors for Air Quality and Meteorological Monitoring

Research training is an important component of concept learning and skill development. Not only are students exposed to modern instruments and new measurement techniques, they also engage in the calibration of instruments, quantification of uncertainty, troubleshooting, data collection, reduction and processing, quality assurance, archiving, analysis and presentation. The purpose of this project is to apply these research training principles to the configuration, installation, and operation of an air quality monitoring system, including site selection for representativeness. The sensor package is contained in the Vaisala^® Air Quality Transmitter 400 (AQT400), which measures trace gases O₃, CO, SO₂, and NO₂, ambient temperature, pressure, relative humidity, and particles in the range from 0.3 – 20 µm, with bins for PM2.5 and PM10. The data is transmitted to the communication gateway, Vaisala^® Multi Observational Gateway 100 (MOG100), which uses a mobile broadband modem to send a data signal to the Vaisala Cloud Service where it can be accessed, downloaded, and displayed on the department web site (www.millersville.edu/esci). The AQT/MOG package being tested is a lightweight, compact, air quality and meteorological sensor package for possible deployment as either remote ground-based or drone- or balloon-borne operations. This sensor package will be compared to a suite of API Teledyne trace gas analyzers employing standard EPA methods of analysis. This presentation will describe the knowledge gained and skills accrued as we brought this instrument online and compared its measurements to those obtained with a standard suite of trace gas analyzers. The process steps will be reported, including the composition of an operator’s manual for knowledge continuity.