Topics include fundamentals of gaseous and particulate air measurement techniques, and measurements of environmental parameters including flow rates, pressure, temperature; how to analyze measurement data; federal and state air quality policy and measurement requirements including monitoring networks; hands-on field measurement projects, field trips, lab experiments, reading journal articles.

Why make measurements?

1. Know what are the current air concentrations to meet regulations
2. Know what chemicals in the air we are currently exposed; to better understand health effects (e.g. elevated exposure to ozone causes lung oxidation)
3. Know what pollutants are in the atmosphere that may effect the ecosystem (e.g. acid rain causing acidification of lakes)
4. Test our understanding of the physics and chemistry of air quality through modeling