Log of notable events - from November 2023
The sensors get moved around so a few notes to help explain the graphs.
View the relevant day's graph and collate to the following notes
Unless stated otherwise the PMS sensor (red trace) is in our living room,
the SDS sensor (yellow trace) is just outside the house.
Note that all data displayed is pulled of the internet (3 files to download) so there could be odd time glitches. So if the display doesn't update when you are moving back or forth by a day just do a refresh, then try again.
26th Aug - really heavy air pollution from early morning, peaking at 5pm, then dying down over the next 12 hours or so. Best theory is that it was local harvesting dust. Theory supported by PM10 particle density being higher than PM2.5, and it was a dry day. Steady SW wind so will try to find some local fields in that direction that have been harvested! Another, and possibly more likely, cause is the volcanic eruption in Iceland on Thursday, 22nd August which led to the sulphur dioxide & dust being released into the atmosphere. It then moved towards the UK.
11th Jun - 17th Jun - off line as my wife inadvertently (?) pulled the weather station mains plug out juat before we went away for a week!
20thMay - back online after closing down the particle & KW sensors for our 2 week holiday break. Poor air quaility in this fine summer weather.
3rd Apr - SDS moved to conservatory where I was frying a few bacon rashers (12pm) and mushrooms (4pm). Interestingly the fumes got into the house (see PMS sensor) but why an hour before the fry-up? Answer - I forgot to reset the PMS clock for summer time!
28th Mar - KW logger taken out for software update
13th Mar - PM2.5 levels now amazingly low.
12th Mar - PM2.5 levels now way down after being high for a week. Pity really as I've just installed an Air Purifier and now can't see any difference!
10th Mar - 12:00-16:30 PMS off line, 18:00 woodburner lit, plot confused by high background levels.
6th Mar on - high background PM2.5 (is the steady east wind bringing in Bham air?)
3rd March - 18:45 woodburner lit. A low pollution fire-up. Dwarfed by outside pollution.
1st March - 18:00 woodburner lit. Shows why you shouldn't put grease on the stove hinges!
25th Feb - 18:00 woodburner lit. Typical PM2.5 plot.
17th Feb - 12:30 spikes, garden shredder.
11th Feb - overnight outside pollution. 6pm woodburner lit (bad fireup)
8th Feb - 5pm SDS sensor moved outside on drive.
7th Feb - 9am SDS sensor moved to kitchen.
5th Feb - 7pm-10pm PMS sensor at Bewdley Rowing Club
1st Feb - 9am, PMS moved from bedroom back to sitting room.
29th Jan - High PMS bedroom readings. Window opened at 8:30am. 10am SDS moved outdoors. All very odd.
28th Jan - 9am PMS moved to monitor bedroom air quality, SDS still in living room. Not much happening due to ongoing S wind. Some missing graphs due to mains trip problems.
27th Jan - PMS set 2m downwinf of Gas CH exhaust
23rd Jan -10am SDS moved to living room, PMS taken off-line for update and will be used as a roving monitor for a while so not visible most of the time.
21st Jan - 10am, SDS moved to kitchen after a large 6pm cooking spike yesterday. Mid-day fried omelet shows nicely. As does grilled bacon around 5pm on 22nd. Otherwise very low levels due to SW wind.
20th Jan - Hefty grate-cleaning spike at 10am, esp. PM10 particles - otherwise down to very low levels as a result of southerly winds off the open fields to the south.
19th Jan - wind swing southerly for a spell so SDS taken inside, nothing to monitor in a south wind. SDS now monitoring air coming into room via floor vent. Fire at 6pm shows really high on PMS in living room. Door to room inadvertantly left closed at that time but even so. Maybe there's an air leak on the stove. Or my wife didn't close the stove door properly (most likely!)
18th Jan = another fire, at 18:00. Confused readings due probably to external PM2.5 generation by local domestic heating.
17th Jan - PMS off line until 10am, then moved to Broom hall at 12:30 to monitor between 2pm & 4pm. Woodburner lit at 18:20pm but a confused picture due to significant PM2.5 background levels. Possibly local domestic heating/fires?
13th Jan - high overnight PM2.5 values, no obvious cause.
12th Jan - Gas CH on from 12pm for an hour, likely cause of spikes at that time as there was a prevailing wind for the SDS monitor.
7th and 8th Jan - woodburner results - PMS in living room, SDS on garage roof south of house, NE wind. Typical woodburner signature on PMS
6th Jan - wind now from a more northerly direction so we can pick up some PM levels again on the SDS asensor - which is now on the garage roof to the south of the house. Some interesting overnight (6th/7th) PM10 levels on the outside sensor, reflecting onto the PMS indoor PM2.5 levels.
26Dec - warm weather and steady S wind for over a week now so no data of note. Sensors taken out for a few days for updates.
16Dec 11:30 - SDS on drive picked up some strong PM2.5 dust, S wind so possibly someone burning stuff in a nearby garden. I wasn't in at the time so no idea what it was.
12Dec 16:30 - A N wind for a while so SDS placed on front drive to monitor road trafic. PMS remains in living room.
A really heavy cloud of dust drifts in overnight, clearing at 5am. Very high PM10 levels and the effect on the air quality in the living room is also very pronounced. Disturbing.
6Dec 15:30 - PMS monitor placed outside 17 Worcester Rd, Hagley (A456) for 30 mins, near pavement, then moved behind a hedge for 20 mins - no appreciable difference. At 17:00 PMS back in living room to monitor woodburner fire-up at 18:00. Same PM2.5 peak level in living room as on A456! SDS on drive.
4Dec - no N wind at the moment to drive trafic pollution towards the house so both sensors settle to 'clean ait' levels. SDS in conservatory and PMS in living room.
12:00 - accident in the kitchen (left a pan of letils on) so brought in the SDS to capture it! It's amazing how long it takes the particle pollution to clear.
2Dec 19:30 - woodburner lit, as detected by PMS sensor. SDS sensor was set up downwind so as to record resulting outside pollution but the wind changed to a southerly and no pollution was recorded!
30Nov, 1Dec - Lots of traffic pollution recorded thanks to the N wind. Indoor air quality also affected.
29Nov 09:30 - SDS placed outside to capture traffic pollution with the N wind. Brought indoors 30Nov 10:30
- woodburner in use from 18:00 and 22:00
- PMS placed in garden, downwind, from 18:00 to 20:20 - some missing logs sadly, but a hefty spioke
28Nov 18:00 - SDS sensor moved indoors ready for woodburner firing
- with N wind, SDS showed plenty of morning traffic pollution, high PM2.5 levels
- fire burning between 18:00 and 22:00 with usual PM traces
-- PMS (at opposite side of room) shows how PM2.5 slowly build then lingers till next morning
-- SDS level much lower than PMS due probably to the way the room is ventilated
-- SDS trace at 9:30 shows hefty PM10 spike when grate cleaned
26Nov 09:30 - SDS monitor moved to front of house
- plenty of traffic PM thanks to a N wind
25Nov 18:00 - woodburner lit, alight until 22:00.
- pre 17:00, SDS sensor outside house - plenty of traffic peaks, esp. PM10
- post 17:00 SDS sensor near fire, PMS opposite side of room
- negative spikes at 20:50 and 21:50 caused by placing two different face masks over PMS air intake
- Grate cleaned at 9:30am next day - check the PM10 sensor on the SDS sensor
- PM levels not down to near normal background level until mid-day Sunday!
- fairly high background PM levels evident
22Nov 13:00 - large spike on PMS trace, monitor in kitchen near cooker.
-Caused by oven door being opened after grilling peppers.
-Hump at round 16:00 caused by seepage from next door's cooking! We could even smell it.
12Nov 18:00 - SDS sensor near woodburner, PMS sensor opposite side of room
- delay for PMs to reach opposite side of room
- SDS falls off rapidly with local ventilation, fire out by 22:00
- PMS falls off far more slowly and only returns to low level at 7am next day