monitoring

How is air quality monitored in Gladstone?

Gladstone air quality is monitored as part of the Queensland air monitoring network, which consists of many stations located around the state.

There are 9 air monitoring stations currently active around Gladstone. These include:

Aldoga (active from 2016)

Auckland Point (active from 2009)

Boat Creek (active from 2008)

Boyne Island (active from 2008)

Clinton (active from 2001)

Fisherman’s Landing (active from 2016)

Memorial Park (active from 2009)

South Gladstone (active from 2000)

Targinie (active from 2000)

These active stations measure the emissions from local industry and air movement patterns and include instruments that record and store weather and air pollutant data.

Various pollutants and air movement patterns are monitored by the active stations around Gladstone. The ways in which these are monitored include:

Dust: Monitoring dust involves collecting and measuring particles that settle down over an area at a certain time under the influence of gravity.

Metals: Metals are measured continuously.

Visibility: Visibility is monitored by the measurement of aerosol levels to determine the loss of visibility due to fine particles in the air (we usually see these particles as smoke or haze).

Particles: Particles suspended in the air: These are monitored using high and low volume air samplers.

Particle Concentrations: Concentrations of particles in the air are continuously monitored with an instrument called a Tapered Element Oscillating Microbalance.

Air Pollutants: A tool called the Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) system is used to monitor air pollutants based on their ability to absorb light.