Quantifying PM2.5 Impacts of the 2025 Dragon Bravo Megafire on the Arizona - Utah Border Region
Environmental Studies- Grade:
- 10
- Teacher:
- Yi Li
The Dragon Bravo Fire was the largest wildfire event in the United States in 2025. While major metropolitan areas often receive the bulk of air quality monitoring and emergency resources, small local communities and tribal lands along the Arizona-Utah border experience data gaps. This study evaluates the PM2.5 impacts of the Dragon Bravo Fire on these underserved regions, specifically Page and Tuba City, Arizona, and White Mesa and Blanding, Utah. By integrating PurpleAir sensor data, MODIS satellite imagery, HYSPLIT trajectory modeling and BlueSky dispersion simulations, this study quantifies the degradation of air quality from July to August 2025 along the Arizona-Utah border. Results indicate that PM2.5 concentrations in Page exceeded the EPA 24-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) of 35 μg/m3, and the concentrations in Tuba City and Blanding were 5 times higher than their baseline concentrations. These findings highlight a necessity for a multi-tiered approach. By combing low-cost sensors with satellite observation and model simulations, we can address data gaps in rural and indigenous communities, ensuring equitable public health protection during catastrophic climate events.
Your recommendations for putting Purple Air Sensors in schools is an outstanding recommendation resulting from your research. Also comparing established and different data gathering services available to the public is something you could use to educate public agencies located in rural areas that may not be aware of these resources. Keep going on this project. Great project.