AirNow’s fire map includes data from the PurpleAir sensor (represented by a small circle), and Watch Duty, a non-profit fire tracking app, also displays PurpleAir data. However, air quality indices reported by the same sensor can vary widely from map to map, likely due to differences in calculations and processing delays. For what’s known as PM2.5 pollution, or small particles of inhalable smoke and dust, PurpleAir sensors south of Los Angeles International Airport were tested simultaneously on Monday at 28 on AirNow’s website, 20 on WatchDuty, and 20 on PurpleAir’s website. returned an air quality index of 5. Official page.
Each of these values typically indicates that the air is healthy, but the situation can become more complex when other types of data are added to the calculation. Companies like BreezoMeter and Ambee are doing just that in hopes of providing accurate “hyperlocal” estimates over many miles between sensor locations.
BreezoMeter was founded in Israel and raised tens of millions of dollars in venture capital funding before being acquired by Google in 2022 for more than $200 million. Israeli media. (Google declined to comment on the deal value.) It powers the air quality data that appears in the Weather and Google Maps apps on Apple devices. Meanwhile, Indian startup Ambee is responsible for air quality data for the app WeatherBug, one of the world’s most popular weather apps.
Yael Maguire, vice president of geosustainability at Google, said of BreezoMeter: Estimate air quality It collects a wide range of pollutants and locations on an hourly basis, producing more data than many government systems. To make the calculations, the company uses sensors from the EPA and PurpleAir, as well as information collected from satellites and other sources such as weather and traffic information. Ambee’s proprietary algorithms incorporate similar data, CEO Jaideep Singh Bachher said. “We want to give people the right data whenever and wherever they need it,” he says.
Volkens says he doesn’t trust these systems. He says the low-cost PurpleAir sensor that it partially utilizes is not well-suited to situations in which it is frequently deployed in the United States, such as during wildfires. But while they have a lot of margin for error when it comes to raw numbers, these sensors are accurate about 90% of the time in determining advisory levels, or the green-to-maroon scale that’s enough for people to make decisions. He admits that. About how to protect their health.
Purple Air representative Andrew White has this to say about the company’s sensor: turned out to be accurate And that you can’t control how other services use that data to perform calculations. Google’s Mr. Maguire said the company “provides industry-leading, highly accurate air quality information, even in areas with limited monitoring.”
Jennifer Richmond Bryant, an associate professor of forestry and environmental resources at North Carolina State University who is researching the PurpleAir sensor, says the safest option for those concerned about air quality is the highest It says it’s about trusting numbers or color levels. “I trust the AirNow numbers more because I understand it,” she says. But “to protect yourself, it’s never a bad thing to make overly conservative decisions.”
