Meteorology and Air Quality Monitoring at an Arizona Copper Mine

ADVM2 environmental consultants provided meteorological and air quality monitoring services for a copper mine in Arizona.  Four stations included: wind speed, wind direction, solar radiation, temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, visibility, nephelometry, digital imagery, sulfuric acid mist, and particulate matter (MetOne BAM).  The sulfuric acid mist sampler was not commercially available.  ADVM2 designed a custom sampling method that was approved for use by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.  The stations were located near wilderness areas that required a two-hour hike for access.  Installation was performed by sling loading all the equipment in by helicopter.  Data recovery for this project was over 95% for all parameters.  In addition, the data was transferred real-time to our database, filtered for outliers, populated into the database, and accessible via web interface.  All of the data was transferred into the ADVM2 database via cellular telemetry and available via secure web interface.  In addition the system contains multiple alerts for exceptional conditions to include visibility, high winds, and particulate matter concentrations.  Alerts consist of email and SMS messages describing the location and alert conditions. We provide summary quarterly and annual reports for all stations.