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July 28, 2005
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| MPCA officials say new air monitor stations operational in Detroit Lakes and Marshall will help predict changing air quality. (MPR Photo/Dan Gunderson) |
Detroit Lakes, Minn. — A small metal shed on the edge of a farm field a few miles north of Detroit Lakes houses Minnesota's newest air quality monitor.
MPCA air quality scientist Jeff Cooley climbs the stairs to a platform on the roof where he unlocks a white metal box. This piece of equipment is breathing the air and collecting tiny particles on a loop of sticky paper.
"We're talking about particulates that can be inhaled deep down into your lungs and potentially absorbed into your bloodstream very readily," says Cooley. "So any pollution that would come along with these particles is more readily absorbable on this size particle."
These particles are so tiny you can't see them, but they can ride weather systems for a thousand miles, bringing industrial pollution with them. Too many particles in the air can trigger an air quality alert.
Inside the metal shed, an air conditioner hums, keeping the sensitive electronic equipment cool. A monitor keeps track of ozone levels. Ozone is created by ultra violet rays from the sun interacting with emissions from cars, and ozone levels generally peak in the mid afternoon. Ozone levels can also trigger air quality warnings.
At each air monitoring site around the state, the particle count and the ozone levels are recorded on a paper graph and saved electronically.
The data is collected hourly by a computer in St. Paul. Jeff Cooley says the data can be useful for people with asthma or other health problems, and the information can help industrial and municipal planners understand how future develop might affect air quality.
The data is also shared with the federal Environmental Protection Agency and is used to help forecast air quality changes nationally.
Air quality monitors have been in place in Minneapolis, St. Paul, Rochester, St. Cloud, Brainerd and Duluth, but MPCA air monitoring unit supervisor Rick Strassman says there were still some big holes in the air quality data statewide.
"We made a decision a couple of years ago that we need to get data from Greater Minnesota so we could better define who's in an alert status so people could prepare themselves and take the precautions if in fact there were air quality alerts," says Strassman.
Strassman says he doesn't expect any air quality alerts in Detroit Lakes this summer, but he says he's been mildly surprised by higher than expected ozone levels measured at the site.
In addition to the new monitors in Marshall and Detroit Lakes, new equipment will also be added in Ely to improve air quality data collected in the northeast part of the state.
Strassman says the new monitoring stations will improve the ability to predict when there will be a high level of particles or ozone in the air. For example, the monitor in Marshall can help track a weather system carrying pollution toward Minneapolis-St. Paul.
"We hope to have on staff here at PCA a meteorologist that will do our forecasting and that will give us the ability to do more regional forecasts," says Strassman. "Right now if you get on our website it's just the twin cities. We'd like to be able to put out a city specific regional forecast, southwest, southeast, north central, northeast."
Strassman hopes to have statewide air quality forecasts available within two years. He says the goal is not to scare Minnesotans, but to make them more aware that air pollution isn't found only in big cities.
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