A NOAA-funded startup innovates for social good

As the catastrophic Colorado wildfires of late 2020 burned out of control, a small company based in Fort Collins, Colorado, decided to use the event as a rare opportunity to test a brand-new technology.

At the time, Access Sensor Technologies was developing a modernized air quality monitoring station, using early-stage funding they received from the NOAA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program.

Historically, air sampling has relied on a small number of permanent sampling units. This is because each unit is expensive to build, requires significant time to deploy, and requires multiple, highly-skilled personnel to manage the equipment.

Because of real-world, situational testing opportunities such as the wildfire event, Access Sensor Technologies has been able to demonstrate that their modernized air sampling technology is cost-effective and easily programmable, can be quickly deployed, and is able to produce spatially comprehensive, high-quality data.