Physical Collection Methods Research
One of the topics my group covered (Billy, Louise and I), was the physical part of collecting the data. This covered everything from setting up a station, calibrating and collecting the data, to sending out an annual report to the EU.
First thing that we did was map out the stations across Ireland that we wanted to cover. We choose at least one station from each of the 4 zones.
Zone A: Dublin (Rathmines & Winetavern)
Zone B: Cork (Glashaboy)
Zone C: Other cities and large towns (Portlaoise)
Zone D: Rural Ireland (Mace Head & Longford)
We sent out emails to each County Council covering the stations in order to find out some more information about them.
We thought it would be best to do out a timeline of how we thought things happened, and hopefully after interviewing Martin from the DCC he might be able to help us fill in the gaps. I think it is important to know at least the basics of the timeline so we, as a class, can understand what happens in each monitoring station, the people or users who are involved in all of the processes could be named and maybe contacted and also for ourselves to better understand of what actually happens.
First thing that we did was map out the stations across Ireland that we wanted to cover. We choose at least one station from each of the 4 zones.
Zone A: Dublin (Rathmines & Winetavern)
Zone B: Cork (Glashaboy)
Zone C: Other cities and large towns (Portlaoise)
Zone D: Rural Ireland (Mace Head & Longford)
We sent out emails to each County Council covering the stations in order to find out some more information about them.
We thought it would be best to do out a timeline of how we thought things happened, and hopefully after interviewing Martin from the DCC he might be able to help us fill in the gaps. I think it is important to know at least the basics of the timeline so we, as a class, can understand what happens in each monitoring station, the people or users who are involved in all of the processes could be named and maybe contacted and also for ourselves to better understand of what actually happens.
Billy looked into the physical equipment used in collecting the air and turning that into data. It was quite difficult finding the equipment Irish air monitoring stations use because some of it would be handmade, like using parts of plastic bottles to collect air. He looked at other countries' equipment to give us some idea of what it looks like as well as what the actual stations look like.
I came across "A Guide for Local Authorities Purchasing Air Quality Monitoring Equipment" that is for the UK. I thought it was a brilliant document that goes through the process of setting up a station, from why a station is needed, what the preferred location is, to a purchasing of equipment checklist and breakdown of rough costs. I took it as that Ireland would have a similar document, maybe not as straight forward but something like it, that helped me understand the timeline process a bit more.
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