1. We thank the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs for supporting this research, and Learning & Technology Services for printing this poster.
Effects of Wind and Precipitation on Airborne
Particulate Levels Around a Frac Sand Mine
Hannah Smith| BSB , Pang Houa Xiong- Yang | BSENPH
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN- EAU CLAIRE: SAND FRACKING RESEARCH
BACKGROUND METHODS
OBJECTIVE
 Frac sand mining and processing generate particulate
matter including respirable crystalline silica.
 Different sources of pollution causes human health
concerns associated with frac sand mining in Wisconsin
 Many cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms are
associated with the inhalation of particulate matter:
 PM2.5 and PM10 levels, wind speed, wind direction and
precipitation were measured at the Chippewa Sand
mine in Bloomer, WI.
 Chippewa Sands mine is located Northwest of our
equipment
 Theoretically, wind direction will need to come from NW
to SE to hit our equipment
 Determine correlation between met data and PM2.5
levels found.
Fig. 1: Frac sand mine in Wisconsin (fracctracker.org)
● Collect data from meteorological station at the Bloomer
site
● Use software “Weather link” to download data from field
unit to computer
● Analyze data to determine correlation of the met data
and other direct reading instruments
 Compared direct reading equipment levels to met
data
 Compared high PM2.5 level days to:
 Wind direction
 Rain rate
RESULTS
 Measurements have found higher levels of PM2.5 around
plants, compared to regional levels
 Wind speed and direction don’t play a role in the
movement of particulates
 Precipitation seems to lower PM2.5
 Monitoring for PM2.5 and silica is essential
 These particles are known to cause health impact in the
long term
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REFERENCES
 Dr. Crispin Pierce- Environmental Public Health
Associate Professor
 Office of Research and Sponsored Programs
 Pierce, Crispin. “Air Quality Around Frac Sand Facilities”
19 March 2016. PowerPoint Presentation
 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources
CONCLUSION
 Precipitation inversely correlates with PM2.5 levels.
 Compared lower levels of PM2.5 to Wind directions
and precipitation
 Wind Directions and speeds don’t correlate with PM2.5
levels.
RESULTS
N
5%
NW
2%
SSW
27%
SW
61%
wnw
5%
7/23/16 Wind direction
N
NW
SSW
SW
wnw
E
3%
ESE
36%
SE
35%
SSE
26%
6/05/15 Wind direction
E
ESE
SE
SSE
W
81%
WNW
13%
WSW
6%
7/29/16 WIND Direction
W WNW WSW
ENE
2% N
21%
NW
57%
W
2%
WNW
18%
8/04/16 Wind Direction
ENE N NNW NW W WNW
 The rain rate is zero for all 4 days
 Lower levels correlates with rain rates
2%
24%
2%
14%
17%
41%
7/17/16 Wind Direction
E
NNW
NW
S
SW
W
WNW
NNW
11% NW
2%
S
2% SE
4%
SSE
11%
SSW
4%
SW
30%
W
8%
WNW
15%
WSW
13%
8/16/16 Wind direction
NNW NW S SE SSE SSW SW W WNW WSW
2%
13%
2%
25%
33%
8%
17%
8/28/16 Wind Direction
E
ESE
S
SE
SSE
SSW
SW
52%
21%
17%
6%
4%
9/03/16 Wind Direction
E ENE ESE NE SSE
Fig. 2: Location of Chippewa Sands company and Our instrument location (google earth)