Youth Education: Measurement of Indoor Air Quality Impacts of Nearby Wildfires using Low-Cost Air Sensors.
Summary: The Air Quality Club at the Albany High School was established at 2017 and currently conducts air quality measurements (mainly indoor) using low-cost sensor packages. Due to COVID-19 crisis, the school was closed for several months and the sensor packages were moved into the homes of students and teachers to assess the air quality impacts of COVID-19 lockdown. During this investigation, three major lightning-induced wildfire complexes started in the Bay Area on August 16-19, 2000. Albany was affected by these fires depending on the wind direction. In this presentation, we will first describe the Club activities since the previous AISC presentation in 2018. We will then compare and contrast the indoor impacts of these nearby wildfires with those of the 2018 distant Camp Fire (findings of Camp Fire impacts are now published in the Journal of Air & Waste Management Association). We will conclude the presentation with future plans for the Club.