Nipmuc students get hands-on experience with data 

There are few things more important to our health than the air we breathe, and now Upton residents are taking the first steps towards monitoring local air quality.

Nearly two years ago, the Upton Board of Health, in partnership with Sustainable Upton, received a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection for 10 Purple Air monitors. This means we are now part of a global effort to monitor air quality, and that Upton’s real-time air quality levels are now publicly available on the PurpleAir map. This map shows readings from monitors across the world and provides students at Nipmuc Regional High School with hands-on experience handling data relevant to their daily lives.

The effort started in October 2023, when local resident Peter Friedland was concerned about smoke coming from North American wildfires and asked the Board of Health about purchasing an air quality monitor. Upton’s first monitor was installed at Nipmuc by Chris Carron, town and schools IT Tech, who continued to oversee all monitors in public buildings. Wondering if any other locals had the same concerns, Peter began working with Sustainable Upton to make this information available to the community. Together, they reached out to MassDEP and contacted Allison Langone, Community Monitoring Supervisor, who offered indispensable help interpreting the data. In May 2024, longtime Board of Health Administrator Diane Tiernan received a MassDEP grant for 10 monitors, naming Sustainable Upton as partners and installers. At this time, Keenan Segenchuk, a recent local graduate from WPI with his B.S. in Computer Science, joined the team. With our newly acquired tech expertise, Sustainable Upton began installing the new monitors, analyzing data, and designing a website to inform citizens on this hyper-local data.

Recently, we launched Upton-Air.com [be sure to use the dash to reach the correct website]. There, you can check current and historic air quality data for all 10 air monitor locations in Upton, sign up to be notified when air pollution exceeds a specified level, or find more information about health risks and local air quality trends. 

Currently, we report the concentration of very small airborne particulates in the air (PM2.5 readings), but we hope to monitor other types of air pollution in the future. These small particulates include emissions and wildfire smoke, but also natural pollution like dust and pollen. We’ve found that air pollution is a little higher around main roads and in low-laying land where it’s harder for pollution to dissipate. For instance, the average PM2.5 readings at Oxcart farm, Rockwood Meadows, and Touchstone School are around 5.8 micrograms per cubic meter, whereas the stoplight by Kiwanis Beach and the Community Center average 17% and 34% higher, respectively. We are happy to report that Upton’s average air quality lies firmly within the “good” range, though there are days where people with sensitive respiratory systems may want to avoid outside activity.

MassDEP is currently offering a new grant round for air quality monitors, and any town may apply a https://www.mass.gov/how-to/apply-for-a-massdep-air-sensor-grant.