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Shameless plug, I've been working on a community air quality monitor for my little community https://millerbeach.community https://millerbeach.community I live

Shameless plug, I've been working on a community air quality monitor for my little community https://millerbeach.community https://millerbeach.community I live a few miles from steel mills, oil refineries, who take advantage of Lake Michigan, constantly polluting both air and water, occasionally dumping/"releasing" more toxic chemicals than permitted and don't raise the alarm for a few days: https://www.in.gov/idem/cleanwater/2576.htm https://www.in.gov/idem/cleanwater/2576.htm, killing thousands of fish, closing water intake, parts of the National Park, etc. etc. I've lived in Gary, IN since 2016, moving from the UK. A few weeks ago, a young lad from Gary died of a really rare cancer: https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/18/us/ben-watkins-masterchef/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2020/11/18/us/ben-watkins-masterchef/ind... Last week, my 3 month old daughter got diagnosed with really rare genetic disorder called Kabuki Syndrome, on top of heart disease. Who knows if either is/was caused by living so close to steel mills and/or pollution, but I'm skeptical. Did I cause/impact/increase/etc my daughter's condition by choosing to live next to a steel mill? I just have to accept that I'll never know the answer to that question.

throwaway201103 6y ago
Why do you live there? I mean of all places, Gary Indiana is near the bottom of the list of anyplace in the USA that I would consider living. Economically destitute, dysfunctional government, high crime, terrible schools, and horrible contamination from the steel mills. I assume it was a work-related move?
- kingsloi 6y ago
  In 2011, I was in college in the UK, managed to score a year internship in Chesterton, IN, a few miles from Gary. Lived in Valparaiso while I worked in Chesterton. Revisited same city in 2016, met my now wife who is from Crown Point. We got married and rented from a friend in the Miller Beach community neighbourhood of Gary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_Beach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_Beach, a block from some really wonderful beaches, dunes, nature reserves, etc. Never understood "lake life" but after having lived a "lake life" for a while, I really loved it. Walking my little old dog in the morning alone on the beach with a coffee, listening to some nice music, on a nice calm day, really was a some of the nicest, most peaceful times of my life. I knew about Gary's history, but I really put it to the back of my head, I always thought it couldn't be that bad, could it? Or, I wouldn't be affected, would I? I knew the bad schools, crime, etc, I knew my wife and I would have kids, I always thought I'd deal with it when I'd need to deal with it, just didn't think it would affect me so seriously, so soon.
  - selimthegrim 6y ago
    Well there go my theories about 76 trombones or Freddie Gibbs
    - kingsloi 6y ago
      I actually discovered Freddie when I lived here in 2011. Big fan! I fly TinyWhoop to Freddie's songs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xCpyVrdt3c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xCpyVrdt3c
      - selimthegrim 6y ago
        This makes me so happy and I can’t even put my finger on why
  - kingsloi 6y ago
    @selimthegrim I actually discovered Freddie when I lived here in 2011. Big fan! I fly TinyWhoop to Freddie's songs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xCpyVrdt3c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xCpyVrdt3c
  - CameronBanga 6y ago
    Also from Valparaiso here, great to see others on HN from the area. If you're looking for a local meetup, we have a group that meets regularly -> https://valpohacks.com/ https://valpohacks.com/. Would love to learn more about your air quality site!
    - kingsloi 6y ago
      That's awesome! I'll join the Slack channel
brodouevencode 6y ago
Where can we find the technical details of your monitor? Is there a GHE project or similar somewhere? The data from such a project will almost certainly be invaluable, and if it can be replicated elsewhere (hopefully cheaply) imagine the data that could be generated and used to stop bad actors. My heart goes out to your daughter, you, and your family.
- kingsloi 6y ago
  Hey, so the air quality sensor is a Purple Air PAII https://www2.purpleair.com https://www2.purpleair.com, after you mount & register it, the sensor communicates to a 3rd party (wunderground I believe), processes it, and updates the map & API, which I consume. It only tracks particles in the air, and not gases. I've been trying to secure an air quality sensor that does PM2.5/PM10 + gases, but they're all very scientific, and come with a very high price tag. The boat/ship tracking is provided by Fleet Mon, I host one of their AIS trackers. Air traffic is provided by Aviation Edge. There are other monitors in the region, but not in my community: https://aqicn.org/city/usa/indiana/gary-iitri https://aqicn.org/city/usa/indiana/gary-iitri, but I have no information about them, their data, or anything. If it was open source, I probably would trust it more than I do now. Thank you, I'm still coming to terms with it, but life goes on I guess, just gotta take the lows with the highs. edit, just realised I never answered your question, the source code is on github: https://github.com/kingsloi/community-airmonitor https://github.com/kingsloi/community-airmonitor
h0l0cube 6y ago
> I've been working on a community air quality monitor for my little community Some people lament how little impact they can have on government policy on these problems, so I'm heartened to see such initiatives from the bottom up. Imagine if even .1% of the global population were monitoring air quality? Such data could have real value to lawyers, journalists, policy makers, city planners, etc.
- kingsloi 6y ago
  I agree! I always liked the phrase "be the change you want to see" or whatever, every little helps in my opinion. If bringing awareness to a few strangers on the internet about the air pollution in my poor city helps, then I'll take it. FYI, there are quite a few sensors throughout the world, maybe consider hosting your own: https://www.purpleair.com/map https://www.purpleair.com/map
  - h0l0cube 6y ago
    Thanks for the link! I forgot this was a thing. I remember seeing this map on HN when the California wildfires were at their peak. There's 4 active people using this in the city I'm in - between a million people. I really wish the device was cheap and reliable enough you could just pick it up at your local electronics store for 50 bucks. Having one with an onboard e-ink display seems very Kickstart-able. Or hopefully air quality measurement on smart watches will become a thing in the not too distant future.
qmmmur 6y ago
Is your tech stack complicated for this? Id love to set this up with a raspberry pi out the window and broadcast the data like a local website..
- kingsloi 6y ago
  No, not a complicated tech stack at all Hardware: - PurpleAir PA-II (wifi) - FleetMon AIS (Ethernet) APIs: - Avaiation Edge API (Flights) - MapQuest API (Traffic) - forecast.io API (Weather) - etaspot.net (Trains) App: - node/express/vuejs app, pretty much all happens in this https://github.com/kingsloi/community-airmonitor/blob/master/api/controllers/airshit.js https://github.com/kingsloi/community-airmonitor/blob/master...

throwaway201103 6y ago

Why do you live there? I mean of all places, Gary Indiana is near the bottom of the list of anyplace in the USA that I would consider living. Economically destitute, dysfunctional government, high crime, terrible schools, and horrible contamination from the steel mills. I assume it was a work-related move?

kingsloi 6y ago
In 2011, I was in college in the UK, managed to score a year internship in Chesterton, IN, a few miles from Gary. Lived in Valparaiso while I worked in Chesterton. Revisited same city in 2016, met my now wife who is from Crown Point. We got married and rented from a friend in the Miller Beach community neighbourhood of Gary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_Beach https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_Beach, a block from some really wonderful beaches, dunes, nature reserves, etc. Never understood "lake life" but after having lived a "lake life" for a while, I really loved it. Walking my little old dog in the morning alone on the beach with a coffee, listening to some nice music, on a nice calm day, really was a some of the nicest, most peaceful times of my life. I knew about Gary's history, but I really put it to the back of my head, I always thought it couldn't be that bad, could it? Or, I wouldn't be affected, would I? I knew the bad schools, crime, etc, I knew my wife and I would have kids, I always thought I'd deal with it when I'd need to deal with it, just didn't think it would affect me so seriously, so soon.
- selimthegrim 6y ago
  Well there go my theories about 76 trombones or Freddie Gibbs
  - kingsloi 6y ago
    I actually discovered Freddie when I lived here in 2011. Big fan! I fly TinyWhoop to Freddie's songs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xCpyVrdt3c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xCpyVrdt3c
    - selimthegrim 6y ago
      This makes me so happy and I can’t even put my finger on why
- kingsloi 6y ago
  @selimthegrim I actually discovered Freddie when I lived here in 2011. Big fan! I fly TinyWhoop to Freddie's songs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xCpyVrdt3c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xCpyVrdt3c
- CameronBanga 6y ago
  Also from Valparaiso here, great to see others on HN from the area. If you're looking for a local meetup, we have a group that meets regularly -> https://valpohacks.com/ https://valpohacks.com/. Would love to learn more about your air quality site!
  - kingsloi 6y ago
    That's awesome! I'll join the Slack channel

brodouevencode 6y ago

Where can we find the technical details of your monitor? Is there a GHE project or similar somewhere? The data from such a project will almost certainly be invaluable, and if it can be replicated elsewhere (hopefully cheaply) imagine the data that could be generated and used to stop bad actors. My heart goes out to your daughter, you, and your family.

kingsloi 6y ago
Hey, so the air quality sensor is a Purple Air PAII https://www2.purpleair.com https://www2.purpleair.com, after you mount & register it, the sensor communicates to a 3rd party (wunderground I believe), processes it, and updates the map & API, which I consume. It only tracks particles in the air, and not gases. I've been trying to secure an air quality sensor that does PM2.5/PM10 + gases, but they're all very scientific, and come with a very high price tag. The boat/ship tracking is provided by Fleet Mon, I host one of their AIS trackers. Air traffic is provided by Aviation Edge. There are other monitors in the region, but not in my community: https://aqicn.org/city/usa/indiana/gary-iitri https://aqicn.org/city/usa/indiana/gary-iitri, but I have no information about them, their data, or anything. If it was open source, I probably would trust it more than I do now. Thank you, I'm still coming to terms with it, but life goes on I guess, just gotta take the lows with the highs. edit, just realised I never answered your question, the source code is on github: https://github.com/kingsloi/community-airmonitor https://github.com/kingsloi/community-airmonitor

h0l0cube 6y ago

> I've been working on a community air quality monitor for my little community Some people lament how little impact they can have on government policy on these problems, so I'm heartened to see such initiatives from the bottom up. Imagine if even .1% of the global population were monitoring air quality? Such data could have real value to lawyers, journalists, policy makers, city planners, etc.

kingsloi 6y ago
I agree! I always liked the phrase "be the change you want to see" or whatever, every little helps in my opinion. If bringing awareness to a few strangers on the internet about the air pollution in my poor city helps, then I'll take it. FYI, there are quite a few sensors throughout the world, maybe consider hosting your own: https://www.purpleair.com/map https://www.purpleair.com/map
- h0l0cube 6y ago
  Thanks for the link! I forgot this was a thing. I remember seeing this map on HN when the California wildfires were at their peak. There's 4 active people using this in the city I'm in - between a million people. I really wish the device was cheap and reliable enough you could just pick it up at your local electronics store for 50 bucks. Having one with an onboard e-ink display seems very Kickstart-able. Or hopefully air quality measurement on smart watches will become a thing in the not too distant future.

qmmmur 6y ago

Is your tech stack complicated for this? Id love to set this up with a raspberry pi out the window and broadcast the data like a local website..

kingsloi 6y ago
No, not a complicated tech stack at all Hardware: - PurpleAir PA-II (wifi) - FleetMon AIS (Ethernet) APIs: - Avaiation Edge API (Flights) - MapQuest API (Traffic) - forecast.io API (Weather) - etaspot.net (Trains) App: - node/express/vuejs app, pretty much all happens in this https://github.com/kingsloi/community-airmonitor/blob/master/api/controllers/airshit.js https://github.com/kingsloi/community-airmonitor/blob/master...