A new winter - a new CONA project (actually more than one)
Didn't winter come around again fast! Seems like only yesterday we were packing up our gear in Rangiora as summer approached. But now snow is falling across South Island and its time to get the CONA gear out again.
And this winter is going to be a big one for us. As usual in summer, the blog might have gone quiet, but there's been a lot happening behind the scenes, which we'll try to cover over several posts.
But the headline news is that there will be three CONA studies this winter.
Firstly, we will be hitting the little town of Alexandra, Otago in a big way. In a few weeks we will start deploying a new network of ODIN sensors - measuring particles in the outdoor air - across this town which, despite its small size, is regularly one of the most polluted in Australasia (based on regulatory PM10 data). Whereas we deployed a maximum of 18 sensors in Rangiora over the last 3 years, in Alexandra we are aiming to deploy close to 100 before the winter ends. This will give us an unprecedented chance to explore how many sensors are needed to answer different kinds of air quality questions. We will also be trialling an approach we've not taken in CONA before by involving with a local primary school to test how the CONA technologies can be used to engage children's curiosity and enable them to participate in research.
Secondly, we'll be bringing a network of around 20 ODINs to Gisborne for up to 2 months this winter. This project is CONA's first project provided as a commercial service - with thanks to Gisborne District Council. Here our focus is still woodsmoke, but also road traffic. The ODIN network will be supplemented by passive samplers which will be analysed for nitrogen dioxide - a gas associated with respiratory effects and arising from road traffic exhaust - especially diesel.
Thirdly, we have begun collaborating with a team from the University of Tasmania who have built their own ODINs to our design and are using them in a small-scale trial of indoor air cleaners in Hobart. An initial study last winter was sufficiently promising that a second study is planned for this winter.
And that's really just scratching the surface. We'll be deploying a new version of the ODIN which - for the first time - will be networked giving us access to real-time data. Plus a new version of the indoor equivalent - PACMAN - will also be released and put on trial this winter. We are expecting our old ODINs and data back any day now from Idaho where they have spent the last 3 months amongst the ice and snow of the Rocky Mountains. And we're working our way through 3 years of Rangiora pilot study data and looking to publish some findings very soon. We also have some unfinished business in Rangiora - taking our updated PACMANs back to the homes of our original pioneering participants - which we hope to squeeze in this winter or next.
So, lots more to come. Watch this space!
And this winter is going to be a big one for us. As usual in summer, the blog might have gone quiet, but there's been a lot happening behind the scenes, which we'll try to cover over several posts.
But the headline news is that there will be three CONA studies this winter.
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| Alexandra, in central Otago - will it be the first town to get a 100-ODIN network? |
Firstly, we will be hitting the little town of Alexandra, Otago in a big way. In a few weeks we will start deploying a new network of ODIN sensors - measuring particles in the outdoor air - across this town which, despite its small size, is regularly one of the most polluted in Australasia (based on regulatory PM10 data). Whereas we deployed a maximum of 18 sensors in Rangiora over the last 3 years, in Alexandra we are aiming to deploy close to 100 before the winter ends. This will give us an unprecedented chance to explore how many sensors are needed to answer different kinds of air quality questions. We will also be trialling an approach we've not taken in CONA before by involving with a local primary school to test how the CONA technologies can be used to engage children's curiosity and enable them to participate in research.
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| Gisborne, on the east coast of North Island |
Secondly, we'll be bringing a network of around 20 ODINs to Gisborne for up to 2 months this winter. This project is CONA's first project provided as a commercial service - with thanks to Gisborne District Council. Here our focus is still woodsmoke, but also road traffic. The ODIN network will be supplemented by passive samplers which will be analysed for nitrogen dioxide - a gas associated with respiratory effects and arising from road traffic exhaust - especially diesel.
Thirdly, we have begun collaborating with a team from the University of Tasmania who have built their own ODINs to our design and are using them in a small-scale trial of indoor air cleaners in Hobart. An initial study last winter was sufficiently promising that a second study is planned for this winter.
And that's really just scratching the surface. We'll be deploying a new version of the ODIN which - for the first time - will be networked giving us access to real-time data. Plus a new version of the indoor equivalent - PACMAN - will also be released and put on trial this winter. We are expecting our old ODINs and data back any day now from Idaho where they have spent the last 3 months amongst the ice and snow of the Rocky Mountains. And we're working our way through 3 years of Rangiora pilot study data and looking to publish some findings very soon. We also have some unfinished business in Rangiora - taking our updated PACMANs back to the homes of our original pioneering participants - which we hope to squeeze in this winter or next.
So, lots more to come. Watch this space!
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