South Phoenix Observed Fugitive Emissions
(June–December 31, 2002)

PM10 concentrations in the Salt River PM10 Study Area (32 square miles in metropolitan Phoenix) are the highest in metropolitan Phoenix. In 2002, the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality and Maricopa County Environmental Services Department conducted an intensive air pollution monitoring study, a field study of fugitive dust sources, and developed an inventory of PM10 emissions to identify the causes of elevated PM10 concentrations and determine controls to reduce PM10.

The field study was conducted June 1 through December 31 to identify the locations and types of activities producing fugitive dust in the study area. The field study consisted of two teams driving through the study area every three days and documenting observations of fugitive dust and the apparent source. One team surveyed in the morning and the other team surveyed in the afternoon. GIS technology helped solve the problem of how to record accurate locations and activities for each fugitive dust event.

Each team recorded the location and type of fugitive dust on GIS-generated field pages with a satellite image. Each page was given to GIS technicians who extracted the event coordinate from the image on the page and recorded it on a spreadsheet. When all the events were identified and the spreadsheet was completed for the entire project, the data was projected in ArcGIS^® and displayed spatially on top of a one-meter satellite image. The new ArcMap™ product with the field observations clearly identified fugitive dust problem areas.

GIS technology and high-resolution satellite images played an integral part in developing and mapping the Salt River PM10 study. The GIS-generated base maps, modeling grids, and elevation data assisted in locating all PM10 sources within the study area. The fugitive dust emissions study was just one of several studies conducted in the entire Salt River area, and it shows how important GIS and satellite imagery have become in identifying and evaluating problem areas in an environmental study.