UW students to develop app for crowdsourcing air quality data

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (Wyoming News Now) - university of Wyoming students received funding to develop an app to help spread air quality data.

The project will pair a smartphone app with notable back country recreation sites.

The app will compare the picture of a smokey day, to a clear day of the same location to assess the current quality of the air.

It will communicate real time air quality information back to recreators so they can make informed decisions.

“What this app will do is, its gonna be using crowdsourcing at various recreational sites where people will be able to put their smartphone on a stand and take a photograph to show what the air quality’s like, and then that will be shared with the other users of this app,” said Associate Vice President Chad Baldwin.

The project team includes both undergrad and graduate students, all in UW’s Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources.