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Being Prepared
Being Prepared
Poor Air Quality
Poor Air Quality
Poor air quality due to pollution and wildfire smoke can affect your health.
Here’s what you should know if your area has air quality in the unhealthy range.
The Air Quality Index (AQI)
What is the U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI)?
What is the U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI)?
The U.S. AQI is EPA’s index for reporting air quality.
How does the AQI work?
How does the AQI work?
The U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI) is EPA's tool for communicating about outdoor air quality and health. The AQI includes six color-coded categories, each corresponding to a range of index values. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health concern. For example, an AQI value of 50 or below represents good air quality, while an AQI value over 300 represents hazardous air quality.
For each pollutant an AQI value of 100 generally corresponds to an ambient air concentration that equals the level of the short-term national ambient air quality standard for protection of public health. AQI values at or below 100 are generally thought of as satisfactory. When AQI values are above 100, air quality is unhealthy: at first for certain sensitive groups of people, then for everyone as AQI values get higher.
The AQI is divided into six categories. Each category corresponds to a different level of health concern. Each category also has a specific color. The color makes it easy for people to quickly determine whether air quality is reaching unhealthy levels in their communities.
AirNow is your one-stop source for air quality data. . Our website and app highlights air quality in your local area first, while still providing air quality information at state and national views. AirNow’s interactive map even lets you zoom out to get the big picture or drill down to see data for a single air quality monitor. AirNow’s Fire and Smoke map, a collaborative project with the US Forest Service, uses a variety of products including low-cost sensors to provide detailed, up-to-date information that can be critical to users experiencing smoke events.
AirNow reports air quality using the official U.S. Air Quality Index (AQI), a color-coded index designed to communicate whether air quality is healthy or unhealthy for you. When you know the AQI in your area, you can take steps to protect your health.
AirNow is a partnership of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), National Park Service, NASA, Centers for Disease Control, and tribal, state, and local air quality agencies. Complete list of AirNow partners. Agencies all over the country send their monitoring data to AirNow for display. The U.S. Forest Service and NOAA provide fire and smoke data.
AirNow’s centralized data system provides quality control, national reporting consistency, and the ability to distribute data to the public, researchers, businesses, educators, and to other data systems. In AirNow, you’ll find:
Current and forecast air quality maps and data for more than 500 cities across the U.S.
Current fire conditions including fire locations, smoke plumes, and air quality data from permanent and temporary air quality monitors
Air quality data for Canada and Mexico
Enviroflash emails
Apps, widgets, and an API
Health and air quality information for
the public
healthcare professionals
teachers and students
weathercasters
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