Researchers affiliated with the GCSC have been measuring greenhouse gases in the Salt Lake valley by mounting sensors on TRAX light rail trains. Not only does this greatly improve the data that informs city planners and policy makers, but this method can provide extraordinary cost savings. The cost of one research-grade mobile sensor is about $40,000. To collect data from the same area with stationary sensors would take 30 instruments and would cost more than $1.2 million.

U of U researchers have been monitoring carbon dioxide in the Salt Lake Valley for 20 years. According to John Lin, Professor, Atmospheric Sciences, adding the TRAX-based measurements to stationary monitoring sites makes Salt Lake City one of the best-instrumented cities in the world for observing air pollution.

Read the full story in At the U. Find the publication in Environmental Science & Technology.