Planning: CIVIC-PG Track A: Pilot - Community Resilience through Engaging, Actionable, Timely, High-Resolution Air Quality Information (CREATE-AQI)

超过40%的美国人——超过1.37亿人——生活在空气污染水平不健康的地区，这是由于颗粒物或臭氧造成的。空气质量差的社区主要分布在美国西部服务不足的地区。由于冬季逆温、野火和沙尘暴，美国西部定期经历全国最差的空气质量。这些地区的个人很难根据空气质量预报来限制污染暴露。这在一定程度上是因为许多地区没有空气质量预报；现有的预测仅限于臭氧和直径小于2.5微米的颗粒物。这些预报也没有考虑到地形和空气污染源的差异，这些因素可能导致预报不准确。这项研究通过提供可操作的、及时的、高分辨率的、社区尺度的空气质量信息，以及可操作的空气质量信息和决策者根据这些信息采取行动的工具，使西部试点社区的恢复能力得以增强。这项研究将工程创新和社区参与结合起来，重点关注社区尺度、自动化、空气质量预测和具有成本效益的空气质量测量之间的联系。它为决策者提供了工具和指导，以积极减少短期和长期暴露于空气质量危害（即臭氧和2.5至10微米之间的颗粒物）。利用具有成本效益的环境传感器和智能数据分析技术，这项工作使公民、科学家和政策制定者能够就空气质量及其危害做出数据驱动的决策。这对服务不足的社区尤其重要，因为这些社区承担着不成比例的空气污染环境负担。这项工作的广泛影响不仅包括改善当地空气质量的可操作信息，这将有利于其所在社区的健康，而且还为学生教育和可持续的就业机会提供了丰富的框架，这些框架有可能吸引学生进入科学、工程和数学领域。它还支持EPSCoR州犹他州的基础设施和社区。这项研究建立在现有的传感和预测基础设施创新以及大学研究人员、犹他州空气质量部门和犹他州卫生与人类服务部之间强有力的公民伙伴关系的基础上。这个试点项目将技术、公民伙伴关系和团队建设目标交织在一起。项目成果包括高分辨率（每小时、4公里、水平分辨率）和2.5微米和10微米尺寸范围内与臭氧和空气中悬浮颗粒物有关的空气污染危害的自动数值预报。后一种颗粒主要与冬季逆温、野火和沙尘事件有关，所有这些都会导致哮喘等严重的健康问题。这项工作将影响城市和农村社区。这项研究还包括一项技术开发和部署，该技术是一种新型的、具有成本效益的空气质量传感器，能够测量社区尺度上10微米大小的尘埃颗粒范围的差异。这些数据可以整合到现有的社区监测网络中。这项工作还提供了一个与公民合作伙伴共同开发的框架，决策者可以利用这个框架，帮助将高分辨率的空气质量信息转化为行动，从而减少生活在西部社区的人们接触空气污染的机会。如果成功，这种方法和技术有可能扩展到全国其他地区。该项目是对“公民创新挑战”项目（track a）的回应：在不断变化的气候中生活：围绕适应、恢复和缓解的灾前行动——是国家科学基金会、国土安全部和能源部之间的合作项目。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

More than forty percent of all people in the United States — over 137 million people — live in areas with unhealthy levels of air pollution due to particulate matter or ozone. Communities with poor air quality are predominately found in the Western US in underserved areas. The Western US periodically experiences the worst air quality in the nation as a result of winter-time inversions, wildfires, and dust storms. It can be difficult for individuals in these locations to limit pollution exposure based on air-quality forecasts. This is, in part, because many areas do not have air quality forecasts; and available forecasts are limited to ozone and particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter. The forecasts also do not account for differences in terrain and air pollution sources that can lead to inaccuracies. This research enables resilience of pilot western communities by providing actionable, timely, high-resolution, air quality information on the neighborhood-scale with actionable air quality information and tools for decision makers to act on this information. This research integrates engineering innovations and community engagement by focusing on links between neighborhood-scale, automated, air quality forecasts and cost-effective, air quality measurements. It creates tools and guidance for decision makers to actively reduce short and long-term exposure to air quality hazards (i.e. ozone and particulate matter between 2.5 and 10 microns). Using cost-effective environmental sensors and smart data analysis techniques, this work empowers citizens, scientists, and policy makers to make data-driven decisions about air quality and its hazards. This is particularly relevant for under-served communities that bear a disproportionate share of air pollution environmental burdens. Broader impacts of the work not only include actionable information for improving local air quality which will benefit the health of the communities where it is employed, but also provides a rich framework for student education and sustainable job opportunities that have the potential for attracting students to fields in science, engineering, and mathematics. It also supports infrastructure and communities in Utah, which is an EPSCoR state.This research builds on existing innovations in sensing and forecasting infrastructure as well as strong civic partnerships between university researchers, the Utah Division of Air Quality, and the Utah Department of Health and Human Services. This pilot has interwoven technical, civic partnership, and team-building goals. Project deliverables include high-resolution (hourly, 4-km, horizontal resolution) and automated numerical forecasts of air pollution hazards related to ozone and air borne particulate matter in the 2.5 and 10 micron size range. The latter particles are primarily associated with winter thermal inversions, wildfires, and dust events, all of which cause serious health issues like asthma. This work will impact both urban and rural communities. The research also includes a technology development and deployment piece of novel, cost-effective, air quality sensors that are able to measure community-scale differences in the up to 10 micron-sized dust particle ranges. The data can be integrated into existing community monitoring networks. The work also provides a framework, co-developed with civic partners, that can be used by decision makers to help translate high-resolution, air quality information into action that results in the reduction of air pollution exposure to those living in western communities. If successful, the approach and technology has the potential for scaling to other locations around the nation.This project is in response to the Civic Innovation Challenge program—Track A. Living in a changing climate: pre-disaster action around adaptation, resilience, and mitigation—and is a collaboration between NSF, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of Energy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.