SWAQ Data

Non-quality controlled SWAQ data for education purposes are available from the link above for the period Sept 2019 to April 2021. If you wish to access a quality controlled data set, or to use the data for research purposes, you can find our data, including detailed metadata, on the TERN Ecosystem Research Infrastructure Data Portal. When used in research, the data should be cited as- Hart, M. , Maharaj, A. , Di Virgilio, G. , Ulpiani, G. (2021): Schools Weather and Air Quality (SWAQ) – Quality Controlled Urban Dataset – Sydney (NSW). Version 1.0.0. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN). Dataset. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5016296

New Research Paper

Air quality impacts of the 2019–2020 Black Summer wildfires on Australian schools

Data from SWAQ has been used to assess the air quality impacts on Sydney schools from the Black Summer Bushfires in 2019-2020. These finding have now been published in the science journal Atmospheric Environment. This research found that:

• Whilst Black Summer wildfires frequently had city-wide air pollution impacts, the onset, duration and severity of these events showed complex patterns of variability cross the city related to the movement of weather patterns, especially low pressure trough before cold fronts.

• The lower cost sensors as used in SWAQ can provide an addition to the government regulatory sensor network as a means to improve coverage resolution.

• The sensors being located in schools means that the exposure conditions of students is directly captured.

For access to the full paper and findings, click the reference link below.

Di Virgilio, G., Hart, M.A., Maharaj, A.M. & Jiang, N. (2021). Air quality impacts of the 2019–2020 Black Summer wildfires on Australian schools, Atmospheric Environment, 261, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2021.118450.