The Valley Chronicle - South Coast AQMD Expands Dust-Monitoring Capabilities in the Coachella Valley

DIAMOND BAR – The South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD) is expanding its dust-monitoring capabilities and working closely with regional partners to better understand and address dust (particulate matter-PM10) challenges in the Coachella Valley. Strong desert winds routinely generate and car-ry dust across the region, affecting air quality, public health and quality of life.

South Coast AQMD has in-stalled a high-resolution environmental camera in San Jacinto State Park that uses imagery and artificial intelligence (AI)-supported analysis to track dust emissions and movement in the north-western Coachella Valley. A second camera, operated by UC San Diego, as part of the Alert California and HP-WREN* network is located on Toro Peak overlooking the area from Indio to the north Salton Sea shore. A third camera is planned for the eastern portion of the valley to expand dust tracking data.

“I have been working with South Coast AQMD on in-creased airborne dust since  Hurricane Hilary, and these two cameras are new steps in these efforts,” said V. Manu-el Perez, Riverside County Supervisor and South Coast AQMD Governing Board member. “They will help us pinpoint where the dust is coming from and allow us to focus remediation efforts.”

South Coast AQMD is also working with UC Riverside to guide targeted dust-mitigation actions with field measurements, satellite analysis, and computer mode-ing. Information gathered from the cameras will supplement this work, to develop more precise strategies to reduce dust emissions and improve regional air quality. Real-time images from the cameras will be accessible to the public through the Coachella Valley Dust Monitoring website so residents can track local dust conditions.

On November 6, South Coast AQMD and Supervisor V. Manuel Perez hosted a Dust Summit featuring com-munity input, scientific presentations, and updates on current and future dust-mitigation efforts to address the challenges in the Coachella Valley. The presentations de-livered during the Dust Sum-mit are available at www. aqmd.gov/dustsummit. In October, the South Coast AQMD Board approved a three-part dust-reduction plan focusing on identifying major dust sources, develop-ing targeted mitigation strat-egies, and funding projects to reduce emissions in the most affected areas.

The installation of these cameras is another step to-wards actions to reduce dust while medium and lon-ger-term solutions advance.

For more information on the Coachella Valley dust monitoring cameras, including access to real-time imagery, please visit: www.aqmd. gov/cvcameras.

*High Performance Wire-less Research and Education Network