4 ms·

I’m working on something like Windy.com for my local community in Gary, IN at https://millerbeach.community https://millerbeach.community but with more emphasis

I’m working on something like Windy.com for my local community in Gary, IN at https://millerbeach.community https://millerbeach.community but with more emphasis on the air quality. I’ve just deployed an AQMesh pod to track NO, NO2, SO2, CO, and soon H2S that I’ll be adding to the dashboard soon. I’m just storing the wind bearing right now, but would love to track local pressure/wind patterns like Windy does!

vosper 5y ago
Could you talk more about the air quality system you deployed? I'd love to see air quality data being more available and visible.
- kingsloi 5y ago
  Sure! Here’s website for the AQMesh sensor I just deployed https://www.aqmesh.com/products/aqmesh/ https://www.aqmesh.com/products/aqmesh/ probably explain it better than I could! It has PM1, 2.5, 4, and 10 sensors, and CO, NO, NO2, SO2, and soon to be H2S (which will replace CO or SO2 as there’s a specific configuration/limit) electrochemical sensors. There is no noise sensor in this one, but I do plan on measuring the noise too. I’d like people to report when they experience bad air quality, and eventually have enough data to say under these specific conditions, people report X, and then use that data to notify people. I plan on deploying more pods in Gary, lil grass roots project!
  - plumeria 5y ago
    Would this sensor help in measuring pollution from an abattoir (measure the stench from burning of residues and also from oxidation lagoons)? Edit: Also, how much does the AQMesh sensor cost?
    - kingsloi 5y ago
      I never associated an abattoir to air pollution (the more you know) but just doing some quick googling, it looks like this sensor would help exactly in measuring pollution from an abattoir! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020312093 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240584402... > All the HQ values exceeded the threshold value, set at the unity, implying that H2S, SO2 and NH3 are likely to cause adverse health effects in the area. Conclusively, continuous operation of this abattoir within the residential area can constitute a great environmental menace to the residents of the area and can result in complication to those with existing health challenge. RE cost: I'm currently on a 3 month rental through https://ambilabs.com https://ambilabs.com, but plan on renting longer, and possibly purchase down the line. I think purchase price is somewhere around $10,000+ with a $1000/yr fee. I got a special deal, but it's a few thousand dollars for a few months, definitely not cheap, but grade A service so far!
      - plumeria 5y ago
        Thanks for the information! This seems like something my community should look into.
aardvark179 5y ago
Maybe I’m misunderstanding what you’re doing, but it sounds like you’re running a weather station, whereas windy and other sites are combining the data from many weather stations and running forecasting algorithms based on it.
- kingsloi 5y ago
  I'm not running a weather station, I'm running air quality sensors and an AIS antenna. I pull traffic, trains, aircraft, weather, and lake advisories from some public/private APIs and combine all the data. I want to track air pollutants on a local level, and see how traffic, industry, and weather play a role in the air quality here, and I'd love to be able to forecast it
- nkurz 5y ago
  > whereas windy and other sites are combining the data from many weather stations and running forecasting algorithms based on it There may be other sites that are doing this, but I don't think Windy creates any forecasts on its own. Instead, it provides a nice graphical interface to show forecasts that have been made by others. In my US location, they offer the choice of ECMWF 9km (European Centre for Medium-Range Forecasts), GFS 22km (Basic free model provided by NOAA), NAM 5km (Regional mesoscale model run by NCEP), ICON 13km (German DWD), and Meteoblue (Swiss from the University of Basel).
  - a_square_peg 5y ago
    This is correct - Windy explicitly says that they don't do any forecasting on their own and they don't have any meteorologists on staff. The usefulness and the quality of apps such as Windy is really a testament to how good the public (and free) weather forecast models are.
notatoad 5y ago
for general air quality there's also IQAir - it was really helpful during the wildfire smoke this summer https://www.iqair.com/ca/air-quality-map?lat=41.59337&lng=-87.34643&zoomLevel=10&placeId=5bc822d541fdcdf1939e7587 https://www.iqair.com/ca/air-quality-map?lat=41.59337&lng=-8...

vosper 5y ago

Could you talk more about the air quality system you deployed? I'd love to see air quality data being more available and visible.

kingsloi 5y ago
Sure! Here’s website for the AQMesh sensor I just deployed https://www.aqmesh.com/products/aqmesh/ https://www.aqmesh.com/products/aqmesh/ probably explain it better than I could! It has PM1, 2.5, 4, and 10 sensors, and CO, NO, NO2, SO2, and soon to be H2S (which will replace CO or SO2 as there’s a specific configuration/limit) electrochemical sensors. There is no noise sensor in this one, but I do plan on measuring the noise too. I’d like people to report when they experience bad air quality, and eventually have enough data to say under these specific conditions, people report X, and then use that data to notify people. I plan on deploying more pods in Gary, lil grass roots project!
- plumeria 5y ago
  Would this sensor help in measuring pollution from an abattoir (measure the stench from burning of residues and also from oxidation lagoons)? Edit: Also, how much does the AQMesh sensor cost?
  - kingsloi 5y ago
    I never associated an abattoir to air pollution (the more you know) but just doing some quick googling, it looks like this sensor would help exactly in measuring pollution from an abattoir! https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405844020312093 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S240584402... > All the HQ values exceeded the threshold value, set at the unity, implying that H2S, SO2 and NH3 are likely to cause adverse health effects in the area. Conclusively, continuous operation of this abattoir within the residential area can constitute a great environmental menace to the residents of the area and can result in complication to those with existing health challenge. RE cost: I'm currently on a 3 month rental through https://ambilabs.com https://ambilabs.com, but plan on renting longer, and possibly purchase down the line. I think purchase price is somewhere around $10,000+ with a $1000/yr fee. I got a special deal, but it's a few thousand dollars for a few months, definitely not cheap, but grade A service so far!
    - plumeria 5y ago
      Thanks for the information! This seems like something my community should look into.

aardvark179 5y ago

Maybe I’m misunderstanding what you’re doing, but it sounds like you’re running a weather station, whereas windy and other sites are combining the data from many weather stations and running forecasting algorithms based on it.

kingsloi 5y ago
I'm not running a weather station, I'm running air quality sensors and an AIS antenna. I pull traffic, trains, aircraft, weather, and lake advisories from some public/private APIs and combine all the data. I want to track air pollutants on a local level, and see how traffic, industry, and weather play a role in the air quality here, and I'd love to be able to forecast it
nkurz 5y ago
> whereas windy and other sites are combining the data from many weather stations and running forecasting algorithms based on it There may be other sites that are doing this, but I don't think Windy creates any forecasts on its own. Instead, it provides a nice graphical interface to show forecasts that have been made by others. In my US location, they offer the choice of ECMWF 9km (European Centre for Medium-Range Forecasts), GFS 22km (Basic free model provided by NOAA), NAM 5km (Regional mesoscale model run by NCEP), ICON 13km (German DWD), and Meteoblue (Swiss from the University of Basel).
- a_square_peg 5y ago
  This is correct - Windy explicitly says that they don't do any forecasting on their own and they don't have any meteorologists on staff. The usefulness and the quality of apps such as Windy is really a testament to how good the public (and free) weather forecast models are.

notatoad 5y ago

for general air quality there's also IQAir - it was really helpful during the wildfire smoke this summer https://www.iqair.com/ca/air-quality-map?lat=41.59337&lng=-87.34643&zoomLevel=10&placeId=5bc822d541fdcdf1939e7587 https://www.iqair.com/ca/air-quality-map?lat=41.59337&lng=-8...