Everyone loves clean air, and {{siteInstance.demonym}} are no exception. But first, what is clean air? There are many measures of air quality, including those represented in the Canadian Air Quality Health Index, but on this site, we'd like to focus on the particles in our air. Fine particles are thought to be particularly bad for our health. That is to say, fine is not fine.

There is a measure of fine particulate matter. It's called PM2.5, which refers to particles that are less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter. This site shows the readings of a number of consumer-grade PM2.5 sensors that have been set up in {{siteInstance.city}}.

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Fine Particle Levels Analogously Expressed as Little Dots

So, how's our air lately? Let's take a look at some data in pretty raw form.

If it's anything like usual, it should be pretty good. But, is it usual? How can I tell? What good are all these little dots? It's driving me... dotty.

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Colour by Numbers

There isn't a universally recognized way of converting fine particle levels to categories and colours, but the US Environmental Protection Agency does provide some guidance. Our use of these categories is simplified (e.g., the breakpoints are intended to map 24-hour average PM2.5 levels to categories), and if you're very curious, there's a lot of reading that can be done.

For your convenience, we've added some very non-scientific pictures too.

Now, let's look at the data in glorious colour!

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Dare to Compare

You might be curious how the PM2.5 readings vary in different areas. Not for bragging reasons, of course. You're too mature for that. And not only are you mature, you are also thoughtful, you realize that particulate readings can vary for many reasons, and that comparisons do not necessarily highlight problems in any specific area.

Let's take a look.

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How Can I Join?

There's never enough data. We would love to have more. Would you like to see your readings on this page? Contact us to find out how.

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About

The air quality data you see on this page is managed by a SensorUp SensorThings Cloud server. SensorThings is the Open Geospatial Consortium standard purpose-built for the Internet of Things. It's a great fit for more than just air quality data; it's great for managing sensor data, environmental data, and lots more. Contact us for additional information.

Crowdsourced Data

This site includes crowdsourced data from sensors that are new technology. The data has not necessarily been validated, post-processed, or received any similar treatment. It is offered as is, for research and community benefit.