UMass students track air quality at Boston Marathon

A team of 16 students will monitor air quality during the Boston Marathon. (Credit: University of Massachussetts - Lowell)

Students at the University of Massachusetts – Lowell took to the pavement to measure air quality during the 2015 Boston Marathon, according to a release from the school. The running event is the fourth in a row that students from the school have studied.

Monitoring came at the request of officials with the Boston Athletic Association, which organizes the event each year. Students were asked to monitor conditions at five locations along the marathon route.

Using a host of different sensors, including handheld anemometers, undergraduates collected measurements on air temperature, humidity and wind speed and direction during the race. From their locations along the route, students then shared the data with others at the Athletic Association’s media center.

Air quality measurements were then shared with the press and through social media. The data will likely be used for organizing future races, as officials can use them to better judge conditions and their impacts on runners’ performance.

Top image: A team of 16 students will monitor air quality during the Boston Marathon. (Credit: University of Massachussetts – Lowell)