About
Imagine being able to track the air you breathe in real time, right in your own neighborhood. With advancements in low-cost sensor technology, the Grant County AIR-WISE community air quality monitoring network is providing critical, real-time data to empower residents to protect their health, tackle air pollution, and advocate for cleaner air.
The Grant County Air Information and Research for A Well-Informed Society (Grant County AIRWISE) is an academic-community partnership between the University of New Mexico (UNM) New Mexico Integrative Science Program Incorporating Research in Environmental Sciences (NM-INSPIRES), the Gila Resources Information Project (GRIP), Roger Tree of Gila Tech, LLC, and community partners. The project has deployed 13 PurpleAir sensors around Grant County with 7 more in the pipeline. Monitors are located in the Cliff-Gila Valley, Mimbres Valley, Grant County Airport, downtown Silver City, Hanover, Bayard and Pinos Altos.
The climate crisis has brought about long-term drought that has harmful consequences for our air quality – from more frequent and severe wildfires that produce fine particles, referred to as particulate matter 2.5 microns or less in diameter (PM2.5), and from fugitive dust composed of particles 10 microns or less in diameter (PM10).
In southwest New Mexico, our air quality is affected by long-range transport from urban areas like Phoenix and El Paso-Juarez, vehicle emissions, and from local sources like wood stove smoke and mining.
Given their small size, these particles can be inhaled deeply into the lungs causing a range of respiratory and cardiovascular effects, including exacerbation of asthma, increased risk of respiratory infections, and premature death in individuals with heart or lung disease.
That’s why real-time air monitoring data is a critical public health tool in rural areas such as ours where federal and state air quality monitoring does not exist.
Our air monitoring network has deployed PurpleAir sensors throughout Grant County. The sensors use two redundant laser counters to measure particulate matter in real time. Each laser counter uses a fan to draw a sample of air past a laser beam. The laser beam is reflected off any present particles onto a detection plate. The reflection is measured as a pulse by the detection plate. The length of this pulse determines the size of the particle. The number of pulses determines the particle count. These particle measurements are used to infer the mass concentrations of PM1.0, PM2.5, and PM10 for standard indoor and outdoor atmospheric particle
Residents can access local particulate air quality data collected from the Grant Co. AIR-WISE monitoring network at the project website at air-wise.org. Air quality concentrations are color coded to provide health risk messages that residents can use to make personal decisions regarding daily activities to protect their personal health.
Although we are in the process of analyzing the data we’ve collected so far, our network has measured PM2.5 from wood stove smoke in downtown Silver City, as well as particles from the haboob (dust storm) that passed through southwest New Mexico in June 2024.
Community outreach and education is a major component of the air monitoring initiative. GRIP hosted three Aldo Leopold Charter School interns in spring 2024 to help with deployment of the sensors, development of outreach tools, and education of community members at Gila Earth Day.
The Grant County AIR-WISE project is not just an investment in data—it’s an investment in people, public health, and a cleaner, brighter tomorrow.
