Inversion Labs Starting in fall 2017, Inversion Labs is launching a project to assess impacts to air quality from vehicle emissions in Teton County, Wyoming. With support from the Teton Conservation District and additional project partners, we will be monitoring air quality at select locations during winter 2017-18 and summer 2018.
Congested traffic in the Jackson, Wyoming area has been identified in recent years as a major problem facing Teton County. Traffic volumes on WY 22, US 26, and the Moose-Wilson Road (WY 390) can range from 13,000 to greater than 20,000 vehicles per day (2017 Annual Indicator Report), making these roads some of the busiest in the state. This project will provide Inversion Labs with an opportunity to develop an innovative monitoring campaign using advanced instrumentation, aimed at measuring major emission gases and particulate matter. These baseline measurements will inform residents and public officials of potential public health impacts, and will provide motivation for transportation solutions in Teton County.
Traffic at the intersection of WY Highway 89/22, July 17, 2017.
The goal of the project is to target high-volume traffic areas that also see high pedestrian, bicycle or store-front use by the public. We will be collaborating with the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality (WYDEQ) as part of their planned location of a mobile air quality monitoring station in the Jackson area in 2018. WYDEQ will be measuring a suite of gas species and particulate matter at a fixed location for a one-year period. The efforts by Inversion Labs are intended to complement these measurements, providing observations of spatial variability and investigating potential "hotspot" locations.
Inversion Labs is utilizing the portable S500 Air Quality Monitor, produced by New-Zealand based Aeroqual. Portable, affordable, and compact air quality sensors have been emerging on the market in recent years, utilizing state-of-the-art sensor technology. The collaboration with WYDEQ provides an important ability to co-locate the Aeroqual monitors with Federal Reference Method instrumentation to ensure measurement accuracy. The small size and portability of the S500 monitors allows installation on street posts and light posts directly adjacent to roadways, sampling conditions commonly encountered by pedestrians and cyclists. We will also be conducting walking tours with these monitors around congested traffic areas. All results will be presented in a final report to the Teton Conservation District, in addition to an online component displaying maps and time-series graphs of emissions concentrations for all sites. Measured species will include Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ozone (O3), Carbon Monoxide (CO), and Particulate Matter (PM10/PM2.5).
Check back for updates as we begin customization of the instrumentation for cold-weather measurements during winter 2017-18.
Project Partners
Inversion Labs is excited to be collaborating with multiple project partners throughout Teton County. Without this important partnership, the project would not be possible. Inversion Labs acknowleges both direct and in-kind support from the following organizations. Thank you!
- Teton Conservation District
- Teton County Public Health
- Jackson Hole Community Pathways
- Friends of Pathways
- Yellowstone-Teton Clean Cities
- Environmental Health Trust
- Willie Neal Environmental Awareness Fund
- Energy Conservation Works
- Wyoming Controls
