UBC team deploys pollution-sniffing mobile lab

Dr. Naomi Zimmerman, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, has developed a portable mobile laboratory that will be used to measure concentrations of air pollutants across Vancouver, including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, ground-level ozone, black carbon, methane, volatile organic compounds, and various sizes of ultrafine particles that can affect air quality.

“Using a mobile laboratory rather than fixed air quality sensors means we can cover a greater distance,” says Naomi. “We can sample anywhere from highways, to by the ocean, to the middle of a field with the same instrumentation in a single day. The instruments in the van can collect data as often as every second.”

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