BC CLEAR Projects 2011-2012 (funding start dates) > Evaluation of the BlueSky Smoke Forecasting System and its Utility for Public Health Protection in British Columbia Evaluation of the BlueSky Smoke Forecasting System and its Utility for Public Health Protection in British Columbiaposted on 6:58 PM, July 6, 2016
Project Leader: Michael Brauer BlueSky is a modelling system that predicts the air quality impacts of forest fire smoke. BlueSky forecasts have been used to make public health recommendations during the 2010 fire season; however, there has been no formal evaluation to date of BlueSky’s performance in smoke-impacted areas. The first research objective is to evaluate the performance of BlueSky around smoke-impacted communities in BC during the 2010 and 2011 wildfire seasons by comparing forecast output to particulate matter (PM) measurements from air quality monitoring stations and satellite-based smoke plume tracings. The second research objective is to evaluate the association between BlueSky estimates and several measures of public health across BC to support the eventual development of a surveillance system for health effects related to smoke exposure. |