Smoke, Smog, Dust 2018 Chiang Mai

[Yom Valley]

@ canopy et al.

You're right, these days we enjoy very good air up north, in whole Thailand.

Mae Moh?

I'm sure nothing is wrong with their equipment and no one is burning next to it.

But they might have a problem with the handling of the filters of this huge power plant.

Laziness or thriftiness?

Strange numbers at all:

 

 

 

 

Edited October 14, 2019 by Yom Valley
Too much images

[HaleySabai]

I arrived back to CM Sept.09,this time with a PM2.5 air detector in hand. Since then I have been monitoring air quality where I live (Mae Rim) which has mostly ranged between 06-18. A few weeks ago the numbers jumped over 40 for several days.

As an air purifier is now an essential home appliance so should be an air detector. I bought mine from AliExpress https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32951681728.html?spm=2114.13010708.0.0.20354c4dVD374J

I don't know how accurate they really are,but its all I got to go with for now.

 

At the moment the AirVisual website is showing CM AQI at 42 ,but that number is not even in the ball park in relation to my immediate environment of 8. Without an air detector I could be sitting at home thinking, f*&$ing hell the air in CM is already getting horrid!....it's not, at least out here on the paddy in Mae Rim.

Aside from reading the outdoor AQ it is essential to monitoring the currents under your roof... the wife turned on one of those essential oil vapour dispensers giving me an outrageous reading of 600!...not to mention a headache.

At night I can turn on the air purifier in the bedroom and go from 15 down to 2 in 20mins.

 

Its a small simple affordable device that takes the anxiety out of not knowing what the AQ is in the only place that really matters...where I live.

 

 

[cerox]

Interesting device and small for hand luggage and travels.

I am curious how reliable the measurements are with these small devices. How much did it cost you?

[canopy]

I am surprised how often this question comes up. Anyone in Thailand who wants an air quality monitor only has to do the following:

 

1. Go to lazada.com and search for "air quality monitor"
2. Sort by popularity
3. Select one with 5 stars that has a huge number of people that have reviewed it. Buy it.
4. Whatever unit you choose, it's a good idea to baseline its readings with what the nearest air quality stations are reporting. It shouldn't be wildly different in one direction or the other. If you can't reconcile the difference then return it within 7 days and get your full money back. Give the seller a chance to respond first.
5. Don't forget to review your device for the benefit of others.

 

[cerox]

Thank you.

[Bassosa]

If you live in the city you'll notice the air quality getting progressively worse as the day progresses, even now in the rainy season.

 

In the morning it's clean and fresh, but then traffic picks up and by nighttime the air stinks of diesel and smoke. Very localised and nothing to do with forest fires, just pickup trucks (songtaews) stinking up the place. 

 

I imagine this is less of a problem out of town, but here in Nimman it's clearly noticeable and kind of disgusting.

 

 

Edited October 15, 2019 by Bassosa

[Samuel Smith]

16 hours ago, HaleySabai said:

 

 

At the moment the AirVisual website is showing CM AQI at 42 ,but that number is not even in the ball park in relation to my immediate environment of 8. Without an air detector I could be sitting at home thinking, f*&$ing hell the air in CM is already getting horrid!....it's not, at least out here on the paddy in Mae Rim.

 

 

 

 

 

Your meter is giving you the pm2.5 concentration.  You need to convert to AQI as shown on the air quality maps.  Can use this website: https://www.airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=airnow.calculator

pm2.5 concentration of 8 = AQI 33, so in the same ball park.

[HaleySabai]

Excellent,S.S - thanks for that!....I was wondering why the readings were wide. Although I had concluded that PM2.5 concentrations are localized and the majority of public stations are in concentrated urban areas,whereas I'm located in a rural/urban setting.

I bought this device to give an accurate reading to what I'm directly breathing in and around my immediate environment. It's interesting that now after converting the PM2.5 concentration Iam indeed pretty much "in the ball park" as the collective AQI CM posting......f*&$ing hell!!  This gives me a different view of air pollution being of a less localized phenomena. 

[blackcab]

You can read and contribute to the 2019 burning season topic here: