Inspiring and informing a new generation
Schools Weather and Air Quality (SWAQ) is a citizen science project funded by the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science as part of its Inspiring Australia - Citizen Engagement Program. SWAQ improves urban weather and air quality measurements around Sydney by placing meteorological and air quality sensors in its schools. Students collect and analyse research quality data for use in science and geography curriculum-aligned classroom activities. The data is also freely available online to the public and researchers via this website, enabling everyone to visualize the data and the current weather and air quality at each school's location.
What are our goals?
Educate and Inspire
By engaging students in local meteorology and explaining the science behind our methods, SWAQ increases the community’s knowledge and awareness about their changing local urban environment and city, empowering us all to make positive changes to our environment. By increasing student participation in science, we hope to enhance interest in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Maths) courses and careers.
Big data collection
We provide research-standard data that adds value to existing meteorology and air quality networks. International researchers and the public are able to use the data, whether it be for scientific research, or through the mapping and graphing tools developed on this website to visualize real-time conditions around Sydney. The data collected can be used to inform decisions on residential and school energy use and mitigate weather-related health risks.
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