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Where Exactly Do They Take The 3 Pollution Readings

goforit

By goforit
in Chiang Mai

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goforit Senior Member

goforit

Posted
Posted

Noticed at http://www.pcd.go.th/AirQuality/Regional/Default.cfm they have 3 locations in Chiang Mai where they do readings for pollution and air quality.

One location the AQI today listed at 112 (not good) and another one has a lower 75. Living near Big C on Hang Dong road, I wonder which reading is more accurate in my case, not that soon all the readings for Chiang Mai shouldn't come with a skull and crossbones.

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WinnieTheKhwai Star Member

WinnieTheKhwai

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Posted (edited)

"Chiangmai" is a mobile station, but mostly located on the mountain near the royal palace, so don't take that one for anything.

Upparaj College is near Yupparat college downtown, and tends to be a little higher due to local (city) factors.

So the one to take is "Chiang Mai".

However it's not like the handful of percentage points difference between Yupparat and Chiang Mai are significant; it's more of an indication. To be honest you can see it just fine from manual observation, from seeing the mountain or not from town. If you don't see the mountain from town, the readings are too high. :) It's the PM-10 factor that's most significant, more even than the combined AQI. Today's reading of 90 is fairly typical for the time of year: Not high, not low. I don't see a spike coming in the next few days, looking at other Northern provinces.

Still, seeing that you're concerned enough to check the site, why not just leave, right now? Pattaya is nice, and getting into low season.

Edited by WinnieTheKhwai
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CMX Gold Member

CMX

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Posted

"Chiangmai" is a mobile station, but mostly located on the mountain near the royal palace, so don't take that one for anything.

Upparaj College is near Yupparat college downtown, and tends to be a little higher due to local (city) factors.

So the one to take is "Chiang Mai".

However it's not like the handful of percentage points difference between Yupparat and Chiang Mai are significant; it's more of an indication. To be honest you can see it just fine from manual observation, from seeing the mountain or not from town. If you don't see the mountain from town, the readings are too high. :) It's the PM-10 factor that's most significant, more even than the combined AQI. Today's reading of 90 is fairly typical for the time of year: Not high, not low. I don't see a spike coming in the next few days, looking at other Northern provinces.

Still, seeing that you're concerned enough to check the site, why not just leave, right now? Pattaya is nice, and getting into low season.

Most helpful, thanks!

But I had thought that people went to Pattaya not because of a manual observation, but to make them??

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Priceless Gold Member

Priceless

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Posted

I might add that the AQI numbers are (very) frequently miscalculated. Go for the PM<10 readings, they are the most reliable.

Incidentally, Uparaj is just a somewhat odd transliteration of what is more frequently written as Yupparaj college (just like Pae is actually Phrae :whistling: ).

/ Priceless

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el jefe Gold Member

el jefe

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Today's reading of 90 was actually a big jump from the readings all this week and was the highest reading of the year by far. Based on today's poor visibility, I'd guess that the reading tomorrow morning (the average of the hourly readings for the day from 9am to 9am) will be even higher and that by next weekend we'll be over the Thai govt's self-determined limit of 120.

We should all be thankful that the air quality has been so good for so long this year. I'm not going to check the records, but if we can stay under 120 for 2 more days this might be the first year in the last 10 that we made it to March without exceeding the limit.

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Mapguy Platinum Member

Mapguy

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Posted

I might add that the AQI numbers are (very) frequently miscalculated. Go for the PM<10 readings, they are the most reliable.

Incidentally, Uparaj is just a somewhat odd transliteration of what is more frequently written as Yupparaj college (just like Pae is actually Phrae :whistling: ).

/ Priceless

Yep.

PM<10 readings are fine, as far as they go. It is what we have to work with. Not much, but something. You can also trust your eyesight and your nose although I am sure the statistical margins of error would most likely have something to do with the degree of nearsightedness and the length and the density of nose hair!

Otherwise, yes, transliteration is a tricky business.

:rolleyes:

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WinnieTheKhwai Star Member

WinnieTheKhwai

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Posted

Today's reading of 90 was actually a big jump from the readings all this week and was the highest reading of the year by far. Based on today's poor visibility, I'd guess that the reading tomorrow morning (the average of the hourly readings for the day from 9am to 9am) will be even higher and that by next weekend we'll be over the Thai govt's self-determined limit of 120.

We should all be thankful that the air quality has been so good for so long this year. I'm not going to check the records, but if we can stay under 120 for 2 more days this might be the first year in the last 10 that we made it to March without exceeding the limit.

Well, yes. But you wrote that at 9pm so by that time you must have noticed the breeze and the clearing up. Given that the readings are averages, I would expect roughly the same numbers for tomorrow, no significant increase, perhaps even a reduction.

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el jefe Gold Member

el jefe

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Posted

Today's reading of 90 was actually a big jump from the readings all this week and was the highest reading of the year by far. Based on today's poor visibility, I'd guess that the reading tomorrow morning (the average of the hourly readings for the day from 9am to 9am) will be even higher and that by next weekend we'll be over the Thai govt's self-determined limit of 120.

We should all be thankful that the air quality has been so good for so long this year. I'm not going to check the records, but if we can stay under 120 for 2 more days this might be the first year in the last 10 that we made it to March without exceeding the limit.

Well, yes. But you wrote that at 9pm so by that time you must have noticed the breeze and the clearing up. Given that the readings are averages, I would expect roughly the same numbers for tomorrow, no significant increase, perhaps even a reduction.

Yeah, I would have lost that bet. Too bad gambling is illegal. I'd love to set up a gambling line on the pollution readings. The over/under for tomorrow is 79.5. The before/after date for the first 120+ reading is March 5.

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WinnieTheKhwai Star Member

WinnieTheKhwai

Posted
Posted (edited)

Today's reading of 90 was actually a big jump from the readings all this week and was the highest reading of the year by far. Based on today's poor visibility, I'd guess that the reading tomorrow morning (the average of the hourly readings for the day from 9am to 9am) will be even higher and that by next weekend we'll be over the Thai govt's self-determined limit of 120.

We should all be thankful that the air quality has been so good for so long this year. I'm not going to check the records, but if we can stay under 120 for 2 more days this might be the first year in the last 10 that we made it to March without exceeding the limit.

Well, yes. But you wrote that at 9pm so by that time you must have noticed the breeze and the clearing up. Given that the readings are averages, I would expect roughly the same numbers for tomorrow, no significant increase, perhaps even a reduction.

Yeah, I would have lost that bet. Too bad gambling is illegal. I'd love to set up a gambling line on the pollution readings. The over/under for tomorrow is 79.5. The before/after date for the first 120+ reading is March 5.

LOL.. Definitely UNDER for today, and also again less than yesterday. The numbers are not in yet, but I think it'll be something like 62-66 or so.

As for when we're going over 120.. That's often one big jump happning in one or two days. No telling when but I'm going to go with 'not for a while' because readings in surrounding provinces are also low. So with that, I'm betting March 11.

Edited by WinnieTheKhwai
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WinnieTheKhwai Star Member

WinnieTheKhwai

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Posted

Yesterdays PM10 reading was 72.6 today's at 9AM is 73.1. Today's IR satellite photo of fires for SEA,red dots...

Thanks.. Thoguh I rarely see any correlation between the red dots (fires) and the current haze levels.. It looks pretty much the same all the time, with weather/wind patterns deciding how much haze makes it to Chiang Mai?

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gotlost Diamond Member

gotlost

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Posted

Yesterdays PM10 reading was 72.6 today's at 9AM is 73.1. Today's IR satellite photo of fires for SEA,red dots...

Thanks.. Thoguh I rarely see any correlation between the red dots (fires) and the current haze levels.. It looks pretty much the same all the time, with weather/wind patterns deciding how much haze makes it to Chiang Mai?

The lack of red dots just mean you had an early night.:lol:

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WinnieTheKhwai Star Member

WinnieTheKhwai

Posted
Posted (edited)

Yesterdays PM10 reading was 72.6 today's at 9AM is 73.1. Today's IR satellite photo of fires for SEA,red dots...

Also: I think you looked at the wrong reading. Todays reading (which covers most of yesterday), is 59.3 So very much in line with what I already predicted:

LOL.. Definitely UNDER for today, and also again less than yesterday. The numbers are not in yet, but I think it'll be something like 62-66 or so.

Seems I was even overly pessimistic!

post-64232-0-22545900-1298954760_thumb.p

(That said, we're looking at a modest increase again for tomorrow. All of this is just plainly visible looking out a window. It's no harder then guessing the mount of rainfall at the end of a day. I'm still sticking with March 11 for the date when the major shit kicks off, and that is an actuall guess / bet.)

Edited by WinnieTheKhwai
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Priceless Gold Member

Priceless

Posted
Posted

A quick look at the map on the second URL that you give (allstation.htm) unfortunately shows that it hasn't been updated for a few years. In the North the stations at Lamphun, Phrae, Payao and Nan are not shown, and there may well be more in other regions :unsure:

Lamphun and Nan have been up and running since 2009, Payao and Phrae since the beginning of 2010.

/ Priceless

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el jefe Gold Member

el jefe

Posted
Posted

Today's reading of 90 was actually a big jump from the readings all this week and was the highest reading of the year by far. Based on today's poor visibility, I'd guess that the reading tomorrow morning (the average of the hourly readings for the day from 9am to 9am) will be even higher and that by next weekend we'll be over the Thai govt's self-determined limit of 120.

We should all be thankful that the air quality has been so good for so long this year. I'm not going to check the records, but if we can stay under 120 for 2 more days this might be the first year in the last 10 that we made it to March without exceeding the limit.

Well, yes. But you wrote that at 9pm so by that time you must have noticed the breeze and the clearing up. Given that the readings are averages, I would expect roughly the same numbers for tomorrow, no significant increase, perhaps even a reduction.

Yeah, I would have lost that bet. Too bad gambling is illegal. I'd love to set up a gambling line on the pollution readings. The over/under for tomorrow is 79.5. The before/after date for the first 120+ reading is March 5.

LOL.. Definitely UNDER for today, and also again less than yesterday. The numbers are not in yet, but I think it'll be something like 62-66 or so.

As for when we're going over 120.. That's often one big jump happning in one or two days. No telling when but I'm going to go with 'not for a while' because readings in surrounding provinces are also low. So with that, I'm betting March 11.

I was just trying to get the ball rolling with the bookmaking scheme but it doesn't seem like anyone is interested as long as the air is still somewhat good. I'm not trying to profit on the outcome -- I'm actually happy when I'm wrong on the high side -- but I was hoping to make money on the vig. (There was lots of cockfighting going on this past weekend but no one is going to let a farang in on that business!)

So despite this afternoon's haze, with the wind blowing again tonight, tomorrow's numbers should be OK, probably in the low 60's. And I really like your guess of March 11 for the 120 breakthrough. That's the day I leave for the month.

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