PurpleAir
CARE has installed 20 sensors in Chicago, 9 in Edgewater (3 of which are indoor sensors), 8 on the southeast side (one of which is an indoor sensor), 2 on the southwest side, and 1 on the west side of Chicago.
What are the current PM2.5 levels in Chicago neighborhoods?
PM2.5 levels according to the sensors installed by CARE on the southeast sides of Chicago:
PM2.5 levels according to the sensors installed by CARE on the North side of Chicago:
About PurpleAir
[Photographs of PurpleAir sensors taken from the PurpleAir website.]
PurpleAir Sensor
A PurpleAir sensor is an automated, fixed monitoring station that provides real-time measurements of PM2.5. The sensor is small (85 mm ×85 mm × 125 mm) in size and light (332 g) in weight. It comes in an aluminum enclosure with wall-mounting support. The unit uses little power and comes with a power adapter that can be plugged into any standard 2-prong residential wall outlet. Its built-in WiFi enables the measurement device to transmit data to the PurpleAir map, where the data are stored and made available to any smart device.
How to install a PurpleAir sensor
How to access and use PurpleAir data
How to access historical PurpleAir sensor data: the required API endpoint.
How to apply the correction factor to the data (according to the US EPA)
How good are PurpleAir sensors?
PurpleAir PM2.5 Performance across the U.S, by the U.S. EPA.
How to cross-compare PurpleAir sensors? See the 2019 PurpleAir Comparison Study Report, by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
PM Sensor Evaluations, the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
How to Evaluate Low-Cost Sensors by Collocation with Federal Reference Method Monitors, by the National Exposure Research Laboratory in the Office of Research and Development of the U.S. EPA
How to troubleshoot?
Sensor maintenance, by the PurpleAir
PurpleAir data retrieved
2022 PM2.5 concentrations for the Chicago area (retrieved from the PurpleAir website by Alyssa Peer )