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BC CLEAR Projects 2014-2015 (funding start dates) > Spatiotemporal Variation of PM2.5 in the Central Okanagan Region: Implications to Continuous Monitoring Planning and Analysis Spatiotemporal Variation of PM<sub>2.5</sub> in the Central Okanagan Region: Implications to Continuous Monitoring Planning and Analysisposted on 2:47 PM, November 7, 2016
Project Leader: Nancy Mora Castro
Based on long-term monitoring at a single station in Kelowna, air quality in the Central Okanagan is generally good. However, air quality within specific neighborhoods may be unhealthy due to wood stoves and proximity to major roads. Through mobile and fixed-site monitoring, this study was designed to identify possible hot spots of PM2.5, and to investigate whether additional PM2.5 monitoring is needed in the Central Okanagan.
A route was designed considering the density of wood stoves, land use, arterial and major roads and a previous 2005 CRUISER study. From November 2015 to April 2016, mobile monitoring was conducted using DustTrak and GPS instruments inside a vehicle, which was driven 26 times along predetermined routes under a range of venting conditions and times of day. Based on mobile sampling, the biggest hotspot was found in the Rutland area, followed by the Mission area and Lake Country.
Stationary monitoring was achieved by alternating an E-BAM between two locations: Johnson Bentley Memorial Aquatic Centre in West Kelowna and City Hall in downtown Kelowna. Results indicate good correlation between downtown Kelowna and Kelowna College, whereas West Kelowna shows a moderate correlation. Further statistical analysis reveals spatial uniformity in PM2.5 between Kelowna College station and the Downtown site; however, PM2.5 tends toward non-uniformity between West Kelowna and Kelowna College. Whereas the 24-hour Provincial Objective for PM2.5 was never exceeded at Okanagan College, stationary monitoring revealed two exceedance events: at downtown Kelowna on January 6th–7th, and at West Kelowna on February 12th.
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