Operation Healthy Air (OHA) 2017 Pilot Study

Operation Healthy Air (OHA) is a special initiative of the Earthwatch Institute and the University of California, Riverside, in partnership with local non-profits designed to improve people’s understanding of how their local environment influences local climate and air pollution. NASA and National Science Foundation grants funded the OHA 2017 Pilot Study, which consisted of sampling campaigns in Long Beach, Chino, and the Inland Empire (Riverside and Redlands).

For each sampling campaign, community scientists choose the level of participation they were most comfortable with. Those with suitable trees had iButton temperature and humidity sensors placed on a tree near their home for the duration of the study period. Participants who wished to better understand how they experienced both indoor and outdoor conditions were given an additional home sensor and kept a daily log of how they perceived the conditions both indoors and outdoors at specified times. Select individuals with suitable yard and connectivity conditions were also given an ozone monitor for the duration of the pilot study. Participants who wished to have an increased level of commitment were encouraged to map the habitats around their sensor. Additional student community scientists were brought on board to help with habitat mapping for all of the sensors.

The Long Beach portion of the Pilot Study collected air quality data from June 3 to July 15, 2017. Results from all three campaigns are expected in 2018.

Additional Information:

• EarthWatch’s Operation Healthy Air Website
• “Teasing the Signal from the Noise” – EarthWatch blog post from December 9, 2017, with preliminary results
• “Here’s why California scientists want neighborhood-by-neighborhood smog data” Press-Enterprise article by David Danelski, featuring one of the community scientists from the Long Beach campaign