Pepperwood was recently awarded an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) funded grant to work with several local community service organizations to collect air quality data and develop practical and effective solutions to disseminate this real-time information to the community. The implications of this are twofold. The first is we’ll build capacity for improving community health around air pollution, specifically from wildfire smoke and ash. The second is we’ll be able to detect wildfire smoke earlier in wildland areas, meaning we can act faster to protect our communities from wildfire.
Sonoma County currently hosts only one EPA air quality sensor, based in Sebastopol. Pepperwood and our partners are adding to this data by using our Sentinel Site to monitor air quality in our inland valleys, agricultural lands, and vineyards where vulnerable community members often live and work. In addition to the danger of wildfire itself, wildfire smoke and ash are also a widespread threat to rural and urban communities, ranging up to hundreds of miles away from active wildfire perimeters.
Airborne particulate matter (PM2.5) generated by wildfire smoke adversely impacts human and environmental health. This work targets the most vulnerable communities in our region, the ones that are most at risk from increasing wildfire-related air quality impacts because they lack robust air quality sensor technology, data, educational resources, and often work outdoors. This project aims to close that gap, providing vulnerable populations access to recent advances in cost-effective air quality sensor networks, and providing outdoor workers and vulnerable elderly communities real-time data on air quality conditions during smoke events.
This installation sits directly in the path of a known wildfire corridor. Had we had access to this technology in 2017, it may have provided the enhanced detection needed to alter the tragic results of the Tubbs Fire event. The siting of these installations puts air quality sensors and advanced fire detection between wildfire and the communities that live in the Alexander Valley. If we’ve learned anything in these past few years it’s that fire is here to stay, it’s up to us to stay alert and prepared. Utilizing cutting-edge technologies like our fire cameras, air quality and smoke detection monitors puts our community one giant leap forward in terms of wildfire preparedness.
Partners in this project include Pepperwood Foundation, Universities Space Research Association (USRA), Soluna Outreach Solutions, Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI), Communities Organized to Prepare for Emergencies (COPE), North Bay Jobs with Justice, Northern Sonoma County Air Pollution Control District (NoSoCoAir), and Nuestra Comunidad. As installation of this project continues Pepperwood also wants to recognize the efforts of community partners, individuals and organizations to host these sensors on their property. Their unfunded support for this work makes the project possible.
There’s a lot to learn and know about this project, and we’ve barely scratched the surface here.
Discover more about early wildfire detection and air quality data in our region:
