Wildfire Smoke: Trends, Challenges, Unknowns, and Human Response

Wildfire smoke is a growing threat to human livelihood in the Western United States. The economic and the health burden of smoke is accelerating in response to a growing fire season and escalating fire activity. This study first evaluates the trends in air quality over Boise, Idaho and the entire Northwest (and Montana) to assess the impacts of wildfire smoke in the region. The Mann-Kendall trend analysis shows that there is a statistically significant trend in the average and maximum air quality index (AQI) during the fire season (July-August-September) in the Boise area. The AQI shows a decreasing trend, although not statistically significant, for the rest of the year. The analysis of the aerosol optical depth (AOD) provided by MERRA-2 reanalysis from NASA also shows the number of days with average and maximum AOD values above the 90th percentile (higher tail of the AOD distribution) also shows a statistically significant trend over the entire Pacific Northwest and Montana. The second section of this study evaluates the human response to this growing hazard. While significant strides have been made in modelling wildfire activity, little work has been dedicated to understanding how people perceive and respond to this growing hazard. This is critical because decision-makers need such information to mitigate the negative impacts of smoke. The purpose of this study is to gather and analyze information about the publics’ level of outside activity during smoke event(s), their source of air quality information and their effective messaging preferences, their perception of wildfire smoke as a hazard, and their smoke-related health experiences. This work provides crucial policy-relevant smoke-related social behavioral information to decision-makers, and believe such information should be integrated into risk mitigation decision-making processes. Our results show that roughly 90% of the survey participants observed at least one symptom (most frequently irritated eyes and runny nose) associated with wildfire smoke. A majority of the survey population (80%) perceive smoke as a hazard, but a majority of them are not willing to evacuate their homes to mitigate the adverse impacts of wildfire smoke

Utilizing Image Segmentation with Supervised Machine Learning to Analyze Air Particulate Samples

Air quality samples are taken at hundreds of locations around the world on a daily basis. These samples are typically quantified using gravimetric methods and classified using chemical techniques. The purpose of this project was to establish a systematic algorithmic procedure using digital image characterization to quantify particle samples with greater accuracy and precision than established techniques. A model with a user-controlled interface was created that has an automated processing system component that does not require any user-supplied data after training is performed. To test the performance of the model, samples of particles ranging from 18 µm to 0.056 µm in diameter were collected from the roof of the BSU Environmental Research Building every 24 hours over a period of 55 days. Two Microorfice Uniform Deposit Impactors (MOUDI) were used, which allowed particulates to deposit in a fashion such that groupings of particles smaller than 18 µm were visible on aluminum substrates without visual enhancement. Programming results showed this is an accurate method for determining surface area coverage for a variety of particle deposit patterns, but is insufficient for quantifying total particle volume or mass

Garden City Geotechnical, Transportation and Structural / Pronto Engineering

Garden City, ID does not currently have water storage facilities within its boundaries. It currently does have 10 potable water supply wells serving nearly 6,000 residents and businesses in the city limits. Pronto Engineering has teamed up with No B.S. Engineering in order to provide the design plans for a new Reservoir and Booster Pump Station, to be located on a city-owned parcel of land at 201 E. 46th Street. This will provide equalization and fire suppression storage for the east end of Garden City, ID. Extensive coordinated communication is expected to occur with No B.S. Engineering in order to complete the design of the new reservoir and booster pump station. Information provided by No B.S. Engineering will allow Pronto Engineering to determine all required permits, design the water storage reservoir and pump station building, associated foundations, realignment of 46th Street access, design of the site stormwater management system, and enhance Chinden Boulevard access to the new site

A dataset on human perception of and response to wildfire smoke.

Wildfire smoke presents a growing threat in the Western U.S.; and human health, transportation, and economic systems in growing western communities suffer due to increasingly severe and widespread fires. While modelling wildfire activity and associated wildfire smoke distributions have substantially improved, understanding how people perceive and respond to emerging smoke hazards has received little attention. Understanding and incorporating human perceptions of threats from wildfire smoke is critical, as decision-makers need such information to mitigate smoke-related hazards. We surveyed 614 randomly selected people (in-person) across the Boise Metropolitan Area in Idaho and 1,623 Boise State University affiliates (online), collecting information about their level of outside activity during smoke event(s), knowledge about the source of air quality information and effective messaging preference, perception of wildfire smoke as a hazard, and smoke-related health experiences. This relatively large dataset provides a novel perspective of people's perception of smoke hazards, and provides crucial policy-relevant information to decision-makers. Dataset is available to the public and can be used to address a wide range of research questions