Air Quality, Climate and Equity Research Program
The Air Quality, Climate and Equity (ACE) Research Program works at the intersection of community air quality, emissions research, cumulative and human exposures, and community engagement.
Community partnership is central to the work
ACE partners directly with community-based organizations, local governments and regulatory agencies to ensure that research questions and monitoring priorities reflect community concerns, and that findings are communicated in ways that support informed decision-making.
By linking comprehensive air quality measurements and data analysis with policy engagement and community partnership, ACE aims to advance both the science of air quality and climate and equitable outcomes for communities most affected by pollution.
Explore the ACE research portfolio
Select a focus area to reveal its overview, methods and ongoing or recently completed projects.
Focus Area 01 Community Air Quality and Air Toxics Exposure Research
CE-CERT researchers have collaborated with several community-based organizations to conduct community air quality monitoring and air toxics exposure studies. These projects have designed and implemented comprehensive air monitoring networks to measure criteria air pollutants and air toxics, and the data are used to understand community exposure to air pollutants, inform the public, and improve public health outcomes.
Project Examples
- Distributed monitoring networks: Real-time monitoring of particulate matter, total volatile organic compounds, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone and black carbon.
- Air toxics monitoring: Offline sampling and laboratory analyses of metals and volatile organic compounds.
- Exposure assessment: Estimation of cumulative health risks from measured air toxics.
- Source apportionment: Documentation of emissions contributions from sources affecting the community.
- Youth education: Training in monitoring, data collection, analysis and visualization.
- Community engagement: Workshops, roadshows and events that gather feedback and communicate findings.
Ongoing and Recently Completed Projects
Del Amo Action Committee Supplemental Environmental Project
Del Amo Community Industrial Corridor Air Toxics Monitoring
East Oakland Community Air Quality and Outreach
Madison Park and Santa Ana Air Pollution Monitoring
Targeted Collaborative Community Air Quality Improvement in Inland California
Expanding West Oakland’s Community Air Monitoring Network and Education Tools
Focus Area 02 Mobile Air Pollution Monitoring and Mapping
CE-CERT deploys advanced research-grade mobile monitoring platforms to conduct neighborhood-scale air pollution and air toxics monitoring and mapping in communities.
Research Approach
The platforms are fitted with advanced measurement systems, including Proton Transfer Reaction Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry analyzers and regulatory-grade particulate matter analyzers. They are driven on selected community routes over multiple campaigns, and the data are mapped using advanced statistical techniques.
Ongoing and Recently Completed Projects
Community-Scale Mobile Air Quality Mapping in New Jersey Communities
Focus Area 03 Indoor Air Quality Monitoring and Exposure Mitigation
Ongoing and Recently Completed Projects
Focus Area 04 Emissions Measurements and Source Apportionment
Ongoing and Recently Completed Projects
Focus Area 05 Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Odor Research
Ongoing and Recently Completed Projects
Focus Area 06 Environmental Policy and Regulatory Analysis
Ongoing and Recently Completed Projects
Focus Area 07 Education and Outreach
Ongoing and Recently Completed Projects
Connect with the ACE Research Program
Contact CE-CERT to learn more about ACE research, discuss collaboration opportunities or connect with the research group.