Columbia Weather Systems

The Air Quality Index in the Portland Area reached "Unhealthy" levels this week. With our recent expansion into Air Quality , it was fortuitous that the National Ambient Air Monitoring Conference was in Portland this year. Somewhat ironically, with the wildfires across the western United States, the air quality in the Portland metro area has been some of the worst ever. Note the chart showing particulates PM10 and PM2.5, 24-hrAvg, for the past few days from our on-site Orion AQM. The sun appears to be a deep red as fires from surrounding areas continue to burn and affect air quality. The conference drew air quality monitoring agencies and vendors from all over the country. One highlight of the conference was seeing the SciArk™ by Envirolytics which features our Magellan MX500™ Weather Station . The SciArk is “a field-deployable, alternate-fuel, EPA certified, zero emissions, solar and wind assisted mobile lab.”  Envirolytics CEO Alan Joseph shows...

According to the World Health Organization, air pollution is the largest single environmental health crisis we face. Monitoring air quality has never been so important to global health and economy. The new Orion Air Quality Monitor expands the environmental offerings from Columbia Weather Systems to measure common gaseous pollutants Nitrogen Dioxide (NO 2) , Sulfur Dioxide (SO 2) , Carbon Monoxide (CO), and ozone (O 3 ) with meteorological parameters humidity, air pressure and temperature. The Orion AQM Plus model adds particle measurements PM2.5 and PM10. Traditionally complex and expensive equipment made it challenging to monitor air quality sufficiently for localized results. This new system offers a more cost-effective solution that can be paired with additional meteorological parameters to provide a comprehensive air quality monitoring in micro-climates with complex terrains and urban areas. Monitoring is accomplished via a MicroServer which offers a variety of...