Air Quality

EPA Air Quality Index NowCast

We are curious about local air quality and we monitor PM2.5 μg/m3 air quality carefully. Here we present the "official" Air Quality Index provided by the EPA, along with the local AQI reported by our sensors.

The official AQI is extrapolated from sensors many miles away and doesn't necessarily reflect what is going on locally. On the other hand, it does account for contaminants we don't track, like ozone. Also note that it lags our own reporting by one or two hours

AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your air is and what associated health effects might be a concern for you. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air. EPA calculates the AQI for five major air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act: ground-level ozone, particle pollution (also known as particulate matter), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. For each of these pollutants, EPA has established national air quality standards to protect public health. Ground-level ozone and particle pollution are the two pollutants that pose the greatest threat to human health in this country.

For more information on the AQI and how it works, please see EPA AirNOW


Realtime PurpleAir Sensor PM2.5 μg/m3 Air Quality

We host a PurpleAir PA-II air quality sensor under our carport. The results are automatically sent to purpleair.com website for aggregation and analysis. The readings below are from both sensors in the PA-II sensor unit. If they deviate, the unit is considered faulty.

Updated: Friday, June 16, 2023 11:03 AM CDT
 
89 Moderate

51-100: Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
 
Sensor 1

93
32.3 μg/m3

89
30.2 μg/m3

82
26.9 μg/m3

72
22.3 μg/m3

75
23.7 μg/m3

81
26.4 μg/m3

Real-Time
(page load)
Short Term 30 Minutes 1 Hour 6 Hours 24 Hours
Sensor 2

93
32.2 μg/m3

90
30.5 μg/m3

82
27 μg/m3

72
22.2 μg/m3

76
23.9 μg/m3

82
26.8 μg/m3

Real-Time
(page load)
Short Term 30 Minutes 1 Hour 6 Hours 24 Hours

Davis AirLink Sensor PM2.5 μg/m3 Air Quality

We host a Davis AirLink air quality sensor at the same location as our PurpleAir sensor. AirLink reports a single sensor. Although AirLink uploads data periodially to WeatherLink, we upload an update about every five minutes, so the results aren't realtime and can't be refreshed like PurpleAir.

Updated: Sunday, April 16, 2023 2:30 PM CDT
 
10 Good

0-50: Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk
 
Sensor

0
0 μg/m3

2
0.53 μg/m3

12
2.88 μg/m3

12
2.98 μg/m3

Short Term 1 Hour 3 Hours 24 Hours

Davis AirLink Sensor PM2.5 μg/m3 INDOOR Air Quality

This AirLink Sensor is located in our living room. Our house was built in 1999 and is not particularly air-tight. Air does circulate continuously through the air handler which has a Filter Performance Rating 10 filter installed. It's replaced quarterly, or more frequently if recommended by the HVAC controller. FPR 10 is roughly equivalent to MERV 12. It claims to trap household dust and lint, dust mites, pollen, pet dander, bacteria, mold spores, smoke, smog, microscopic allergens, plus particles that can carry viruses and particles that can carry odors.

The kitchen is adjacent, so you can often see the air quality spike and slowly recover as we use the stove or oven and the HVAC eventually filters out the particles.

Updated: Monday, April 03, 2023 8:50 AM CDT
 
31 Good

0-50: Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk
 
Sensor

37
8.77 μg/m3

33
7.92 μg/m3

30
7.31 μg/m3

28
6.68 μg/m3

Short Term 1 Hour 3 Hours 24 Hours


Last Twenty-Four Hour Air Quality


Davis AirLink Sensor Details

Remaining particulate details from the outdoor Davis AirLink. All data above is PM2.5 μg/m3, but this table also shows the much larger PM10 μg/m3 over the same period as well as the most recent very small PM1 μg/m3 reading.

10μm
2.5
μm
 1μm
Relative Sizes
Particulate Matter Details
Updated Sunday, April 16, 2023 2:30 PM CDT
 Index style
Period Particle Conc. Index US Classification       
now μm10 0 µg/m3 0 Good > 0 <     
now μm2.5 0 µg/m3 0 Good > 0 <     
now μm1 0 µg/m3 0 Good > 0 <     

Last hour avg μm10 0.79 µg/m3 1 Good > 1 <     
Last hour avg μm2.5 0.53 µg/m3 3 Good > 3 <     

Last 3h avg μm10 3.2 µg/m3 3 Good > 3 <     
Last 3h avg μm2.5 2.88 µg/m3 12 Good > 12 <     

"Nowcast" μm10 2.72 µg/m3 3 Good > 3 <     
"Nowcast" μm2.5 2.41 µg/m3 11 Good > 11 <     

Last 24h avg μm10 3.49 µg/m3 4 Good > 4 <     
Last 24h avg μm2.5 2.98 µg/m3 13 Good > 13 <
US Classification Index μm10 μm2.5 The health effects should be based on 24 hours average values only.
 Good  1-50 < 54 µg/m3 < 12 µg/m3 Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk
 Moderate  51-100 < 154 µg/m3 < 35.4 µg/m3 Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people who are unusually sensitive to air pollution.
 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups  101-150 < 254 µg/m3 < 55.4 µg/m3 Members of sensitive groups may experience health effects. The general public is not likely to be affected.
 Unhealthy  151-200 < 354 µg/m3 < 150.4 µg/m3 Everyone may begin to experience health effects; members of sensitive groups may experience more serious health effects.
 Very Unhealthy  201-300 < 424 µg/m3 < 250.4 µg/m3 Health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected
 Hazardous  301-500 > 424 µg/m3 > 250.4 µg/m3 Health alert: everyone may experience more serious health effects
Visit US Air Quality site where you can find a wealth of information
Scripts adapted from Saratoga Weather and beteljuice.