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Air Quality and Meteorological Information System Q and A


By: the California Air Resources Board

1) What is AQMIS?

The Air Quality and Meteorological Information System (AQMIS) is a web-based source for real-time (and historical) air quality and meteorological data. The web site provides reports, summaries, and maps for all areas of the state. Users can display data by county, air basin, or section of the state, by day or week, and for more than 20 different parameters.

2) Who uses AQMIS?

AQMIS is available to anyone. It is used to track real-time air quality by management and staff, and by the districts and the public. It is also used for smoke management and air pollution forecasting. Basically anybody with an interest in current or historical air quality and meteorological data will find the AQMIS site useful. We are continually adding data streams to the site, to make it even more useful.

3) How do I use AQMIS?

AQMIS is available by simply pointing your web browser to http://www.arb.ca.gov/airqualitytoday. The site is menu-driven, so that all the user has to do is pick and choose from the available menus to specify the parameter, date, and area of interest, and AQMIS will generate a report or summary with the requested information. That’s all there is to it!

4) How does it help me on a day-to-day basis?

The data and reports provided by AQMIS can be useful in a variety of ways. For example, real time air quality can be used to track an area’s
progress against air quality standards, and it can provide valuable information on public health and exposure on any given day (and whether or not air pollution advisories are warranted). Also, the meteorological data can be used to generate trajectories in support of smoke forecasting and air pollution forecasting, both in real-time and historically.

5) How can I tell others about AQMIS?

We are very excited about AQMIS, and encourage as many people as possible to use the site and to provide us with feedback. Please feel free to provide them with the link information to the web site, or have them contact us to discuss how to access and use AQMIS. Sharing examples of AQMIS reports and summaries is another way to let others know about the site. We plan to publicize the site internally as much as we can, such as the recent AirWaves article, but welcome suggestions on additional ways to publicize it.

6) How can I add an “Air Quality Today” icon to my computer?

These pages are best viewed in Internet Explorer. Internet Explorer Users: Right click on the Windows desktop screen where all of your icons are. On the resulting popup menu, choose “New” and then “Shortcut.” A “Create Shortcut” window will appear. In the location box, type in the following: "C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE" http://www.arb.ca.gov/airqualitytoday  Then click on the “Next” button, enter a name for the new shortcut (Air Quality Today or another name of your choosing), and then click the “Finish” button. That’s all there is to it! 

October 29, 2004