A UNBC Environmental Science class is engaged in a project that will provide industries and communities with useful information about how emissions move through the air. The research is an example of how the University can work with communities to address important local issues.

The students in ENVS 412/612 Air Pollution, are working with Duke Energy Gas Transmission (formerly Westcoast Energy Inc) to study air circulation in the Taylor, BC, area. Located just south of Fort St John, Taylor is home to Duke Energy's McMahon Gas Plant and numerous other industrial operations.

The students - eight at the bachelor's degree level and one pursuing a master's degree - along with professor Peter Jackson recently installed a Doppler Sodar as well as 18 temperature and humidity monitors around Taylor. The Doppler Sodar uses sound waves, echoes, and changes in pitch to record the movement of air in three-dimensions. While the temperature and humidity monitors capture measurements at certain locations, only the Doppler Sodar can provide researchers on how the air - and emissions traveling in air currents - moves through an area. The Doppler Sodar is particularly effective at measuring air movement up to 1km high.

"The Taylor area is interesting because we suspect the geography of the area has considerable influence over how industrial odours are dispersed within it," says Peter Jackson, the Environmental Science and Engineering professor leading the course. "The information learned here could be used elsewhere. While Taylor supports a heavy industrial base, other communities and industrial plants around northern BC are often in valleys, ringed by geographic barriers."

The objective of the study is to examine local air circulations in this complex industrial airshed, especially the effects of light winds on the transport of industrial odours. The equipment that has been installed in Taylor will remain there for another month. The class will analyze the data and produce a report as the major course research project.

Duke Energy's Peter Reid is an enthusiastic supporter of the project. "It's a win-win project. We get key information on air circulation into and out of the Taylor airshed that will supplement our monitoring already in place, and nine students get practical experience conducting air quality research."