8 ms·

Realtime California Air Quality

113 points by gdi2290 6y ago

gdi2290 6y ago
also see how bad the fires are from Santa Cruz https://twitter.com/robwormald/status/1296709260429029378 https://twitter.com/robwormald/status/1296709260429029378
khuey 6y ago
For those who don't live here, a series of dry thunderstorms last weekend sparked a number of wildfires that have combined to burn more than 1500 square miles (more than 4000 square kilometers) in less than a week.
- RobLach 6y ago
  Unfortunately the same conditions are reappearing which will negatively compound the situation: https://www.chicoer.com/2020/08/23/national-weather-service-upgrades-fire-weather-watch-to-red-flag-warning-in-parts-of-northern-california/ https://www.chicoer.com/2020/08/23/national-weather-service-...
  - coronadisaster 6y ago
    at least, those 1500 square miles can't burn again... maybe CA need to do controlled burns like FL does (if they don't already do it). IE: Burn dry brush in the forests.
    - vondur 6y ago
      There's an article about this very subject in Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/11/californias-wildfire-controlled-prescribed-burns-native-americans/ https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/11/californias-...
    - kec 6y ago
      I believe California does, but the scale of the problem is completely different compared to a sate like Florida. California has 2.5x as much land as Florida and a significantly higher percentage of the total land is wilderness or otherwise undeveloped.
      - shaftway 6y ago
        Not just wilderness or undeveloped, but highly inaccessible to firefighting crews. The Bay Area has peaks over 4000 feet with lots of fairly sheer areas. Often firefighters have to be dropped in by helicopter. Florida is mostly low rolling hills with the highest point in the state being ~350 feet above sea level. If Florida has a fire in an inaccessible area, it's usually inaccessible due to water, so more of a help to firefighters than a hindrance.
    - squidlogic 6y ago
      As I recall, Bureau of Land Management tried this and there was a lot of backlash from residents. It’s also quite a bit of land to do a controlled burn, so might not be that feasible.
    - claydavisss 6y ago
      It may be too late. The high-risk areas are very close to homes (as is evidenced by the destruction of property). A controlled burn near homes will produce high volumes of smoke even if they are controlled. If they are not adequately controlled, you can lose a town. Depopulating these areas won't need to happen by edict, insurances premiums will do that. If these trends continue, there will be no one living in the quaint gentleman-farmer communities in wine country within twenty years. I predict the sierras will be the next danger zone - as more people move to the Tahoe area, all of the mistakes of sprawl will be repeated.
    - athms 6y ago
      The federal government owns about 45% of California land. Of the forests, 57% are owned by the federal government; 39% are privately owned by individuals, corporations, or land trusts; and the state, county, or local governments control only 2%. Also, most fires start in grassy areas. The Camp Fire that destroyed Paradise started as a grass fire on federal land before it spread to shrubs and burned through mostly private land. California has almost 8 million acres of shrubs. The Woosley Fire that burned almost half of Malibu was started on industrial property owned by Boeing and spread through chaparral along the steep Santa Monica Mountains.
  - avmich 6y ago
    > A map of the Red Flag Warning can be found on the US National Weather Service’s Facebook page. Anything more available?
    - tjohns 6y ago
      It's on the top of the NWS Bay Area homepage right now: https://www.weather.gov/mtr/ https://www.weather.gov/mtr/ Their Twitter feed is also worth subscribing to: https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea
    - jeffbee 6y ago
      The map basically shows the entire state of California. Saved you a click.
- casefields 6y ago
  Here's a great map: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgHuZ8XUcAEii18?format=png&name=900x900 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgHuZ8XUcAEii18?format=png&name=...
  - dylan604 6y ago
    I found this interactive map compelling: https://nifc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=69fca73a82df4fefa7c0e48b66d0899d&extent=-123.2395,36.6849,-119.5618,38.1032 https://nifc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=69fc...
    - guerrilla 6y ago
      There's these two using satellite data as well [1][2]. Live webcams for a bonus [3]. [1]. https://firemap.sdsc.edu/ https://firemap.sdsc.edu/ [2]. https://mappingsupport.com/p2/gissurfer.php?basemap=USA_basemap&overlay=VIIRS_24_hours,MODIS_24_hours,ESRI_roads_and_labels&txtfile=https://mappingsupport.com/p2/special_maps/disaster/USA_wildland_fire.txt https://mappingsupport.com/p2/gissurfer.php?basemap=USA_base... [3]. http://www.alertwildfire.org/northbay/index.html?camera=Axis-StHelenaSouth&v=518dd6b http://www.alertwildfire.org/northbay/index.html?camera=Axis...
- coding123 6y ago
  For those that DO live here, a number of somewhat similar thunderstorms are in the forecast for the exact same days as last week (Sunday - Tuesday).
Fauntleroy 6y ago
It's useful to see the pollution numbers on the sensors, but it's also just as interesting to see which sensors have been destroyed and for how long. You can track the fire just by seeing when sensors go offline, if you know where to look.
- anamexis 6y ago
  Not necessarily destroyed, but at least without power.
snoshy 6y ago
What is the source for this data?
- stbtrax 6y ago
  They have devices that you can buy and install. Check out their website
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
oski 6y ago
Make sure to use the “LRAPA” conversion on purpleair.com https://twitter.com/rengiec/status/1296486310123905024?s=20 https://twitter.com/rengiec/status/1296486310123905024?s=20
modeless 6y ago
I like PurpleAir's air quality map but felt it was a bit too slow to check frequently. So I used their API to make the fastest air quality site around: https://aqi.today https://aqi.today
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
ericand 6y ago
What's with indoor sensors being default on? Is there some value to then that I don't understand?
- wmichelin 6y ago
  Seriously. My partners school was saying they will open this week (on top of COVID, of all things) if the AQI is not in the red. The sensor they're using is indoor. This website is actively doing harm with these configurations, granted, so is the school administration. COVID is bringing out the worst in all parts of our society. It has been such a stressful time, and I am someone who has some financial security. I can't imagine how tough things are on the average American right now. Stay strong everybody. We will make it out of this.
- stbtrax 6y ago
  This is very frustrating. Agreed, they should turn them off by default.
  - mjrpes 6y ago
    I sent their team an email two years ago with exactly that feedback, and their response was: "Thank you for the feedback. We are working on an update that will 'save' your preferred map view when logged in on the PurpleAir website. However, it is not published yet." See my post above how I am able to bookmark the site after I choose the settings I want and it remember these choices when I visit again.
- mjrpes 6y ago
  If you bookmark the website after you have zoomed in on your area and toggled settings (unchecked indoor sensors, LRAPA), it will remember your settings.
dang 6y ago
See also: a thread from 2018: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18714777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18714777
archarios 6y ago
It seems like they're out of indoor sensors by the way I ordered one and they printed a shipping label then canceled it.
ilyagr 6y ago
I've found http://www.airnow.gov http://www.airnow.gov very helpful and faster to load than the Purple Air map. They also have a simple but efficient app. Airnow's map is slow to load, but shows smoke, air monitors (including the Purple Air ones^[footnote]), and fires all at once: https://fire.airnow.gov/?lat=37.40&lng=-122.077&zoom=10# https://fire.airnow.gov/?lat=37.40&lng=-122.077&zoom=10# A less detailed, fast, static map for the SF Bay Area is available at http://www.baaqmd.gov http://www.baaqmd.gov. Last, but not least, there is a forecast of surface-level smoke available at https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/ https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/. I found it from https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea, which is a good source of news for the Bay Area. [footnote]: To make the numbers match, I had to set PurpleAir to show One-Hour Averages with the LRAPA scoring. See https://imgur.com/a/d6yFtow https://imgur.com/a/d6yFtow.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  Thank you for sharing this!
  - deleted 6y ago
    [deleted]
- krat0sprakhar 6y ago
  Didn't know about airnow.gov - thanks! I'm surprised though why the data is so different between airnow and purpleair. On AirNow, SF currently shows unhealthy air (150~) whereas purpleair shows 88 (moderate). Which one of these is more reliable and real-time?
  - tmpz22 6y ago
    Purple air has a mix of indoor sensors, try using the filter to hide indoor sensors and you should see more of a parity between the two.
  - fossuser 6y ago
    I think purple air is better. Purple air relies on a bunch of devices people have bought and installed all over. I think airnow is just a handful of government ones?
tempsy 6y ago
this year is like a sad joke. if covid didn’t kill San Francisco these fires will be the breaking point. it has become that for me.
- scurvy 6y ago
  What about the fires last year? Or two years ago? Those were worse for SF proper. It looked like Mars or the end of days 2 years ago.
  - novok 6y ago
    No covid... Can't meet people inside or outside now, plus an economy that is close to starving people. Most places are 3 meals away from a revolution.
supernova87a 6y ago
Maybe someone can share/explain -- Purple Air sells you a sensor that you can install, and then takes the data, displays it on their website for lots of people to view, and then presumably makes money off the data you send them? Why should you have to pay for the sensor then?
- bittercynic 6y ago
  Personally, I probably wouldn't, but if you wanted to know about the air quality at your home this would be one way to do it.
- suzakus 6y ago
  You don't have to make it public. I bought a sensor from them and marked it private, so it doesn't appear on the map. From installation guide: https://www2.purpleair.com/pages/install https://www2.purpleair.com/pages/install If you set your sensor to private, you may view it by logging in to the PurpleAir map using a Gmail address that matches the "Owner's Email" in the registration form. Alternatively, you can use the link provided in the registration confirmation email. You may share this link with family and friends.
- IvyMike 6y ago
  Here's a NYT article on the origins of Purple Air. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/style/air-quality-pollution-monitors.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/style/air-quality-polluti... I have a Purple Air sensor; I view the money I spent on it as helping to sponsor a "citizen science" project. Could the nature of the project change in the future, to where I feel like I was taken advantage of? Sure, I guess. But I'm ok taking that risk.
  - supernova87a 6y ago
    I see. Ok, well at least it's not some tech app service trying to charge on the front end and make money off the back too.
Zhenya 6y ago
Submitted a quick instruction on how to make an air purifier. Link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24251509 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24251509 Copy/pasta to help folks: Note: this is not my idea, but I have used it for 2 Cal fire seasons successfully. 1) Acquire a box fan 2) Acquire a large "FPR 10" rated filter from home depot 3) Duct tape filter to the out flow side of the box fan. Make sure the arrows on the filter point in the correct airflow direction. This works dramatically well for very little dollars and can help save your lungs if air purifiers are not available or expensive.
- ilyagr 6y ago
  How loud is it?
  - Zhenya 6y ago
    Not loud at all. Just a background hum. However, I'm sure it's a function of the box fan motor. I have a cheap one and it's perfectly fine to sleep in the same room.
ahaucnx 6y ago
We are a new startup (currently doing Startup School) to provide air quality monitoring solutions especially for schools. From the beginning it was important for us to give back to the community so we setup AirGradient for Education providing free tutorials and advise. We just published our open source and open hardware air quality sensor measuring PM2.5, CO2, Temperature and Humdity. So you can build your own sensor with a small display to measure the air quality in and around your home. We call it the AirGradient DIY sensor. Build instructions, Code and Hardware files can be found on our project page: https://www.airgradient.com/diy/ https://www.airgradient.com/diy/ It would be great to hear feedback from you! PS: We are also looking for schools that are interested in improving air quality to learn more about their needs and possible solutions. Please PM me for more information.
Animats 6y ago
Site down: Over Quota This application is temporarily over its serving quota. Please try again later.

113 points by gdi2290 6y ago

also see how bad the fires are from Santa Cruz https://twitter.com/robwormald/status/1296709260429029378 https://twitter.com/robwormald/status/1296709260429029378

khuey 6y ago

For those who don't live here, a series of dry thunderstorms last weekend sparked a number of wildfires that have combined to burn more than 1500 square miles (more than 4000 square kilometers) in less than a week.

RobLach 6y ago
Unfortunately the same conditions are reappearing which will negatively compound the situation: https://www.chicoer.com/2020/08/23/national-weather-service-upgrades-fire-weather-watch-to-red-flag-warning-in-parts-of-northern-california/ https://www.chicoer.com/2020/08/23/national-weather-service-...
- coronadisaster 6y ago
  at least, those 1500 square miles can't burn again... maybe CA need to do controlled burns like FL does (if they don't already do it). IE: Burn dry brush in the forests.
  - vondur 6y ago
    There's an article about this very subject in Mother Jones: https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/11/californias-wildfire-controlled-prescribed-burns-native-americans/ https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2019/11/californias-...
  - kec 6y ago
    I believe California does, but the scale of the problem is completely different compared to a sate like Florida. California has 2.5x as much land as Florida and a significantly higher percentage of the total land is wilderness or otherwise undeveloped.
    - shaftway 6y ago
      Not just wilderness or undeveloped, but highly inaccessible to firefighting crews. The Bay Area has peaks over 4000 feet with lots of fairly sheer areas. Often firefighters have to be dropped in by helicopter. Florida is mostly low rolling hills with the highest point in the state being ~350 feet above sea level. If Florida has a fire in an inaccessible area, it's usually inaccessible due to water, so more of a help to firefighters than a hindrance.
  - squidlogic 6y ago
    As I recall, Bureau of Land Management tried this and there was a lot of backlash from residents. It’s also quite a bit of land to do a controlled burn, so might not be that feasible.
  - claydavisss 6y ago
    It may be too late. The high-risk areas are very close to homes (as is evidenced by the destruction of property). A controlled burn near homes will produce high volumes of smoke even if they are controlled. If they are not adequately controlled, you can lose a town. Depopulating these areas won't need to happen by edict, insurances premiums will do that. If these trends continue, there will be no one living in the quaint gentleman-farmer communities in wine country within twenty years. I predict the sierras will be the next danger zone - as more people move to the Tahoe area, all of the mistakes of sprawl will be repeated.
  - athms 6y ago
    The federal government owns about 45% of California land. Of the forests, 57% are owned by the federal government; 39% are privately owned by individuals, corporations, or land trusts; and the state, county, or local governments control only 2%. Also, most fires start in grassy areas. The Camp Fire that destroyed Paradise started as a grass fire on federal land before it spread to shrubs and burned through mostly private land. California has almost 8 million acres of shrubs. The Woosley Fire that burned almost half of Malibu was started on industrial property owned by Boeing and spread through chaparral along the steep Santa Monica Mountains.
- avmich 6y ago
  > A map of the Red Flag Warning can be found on the US National Weather Service’s Facebook page. Anything more available?
  - tjohns 6y ago
    It's on the top of the NWS Bay Area homepage right now: https://www.weather.gov/mtr/ https://www.weather.gov/mtr/ Their Twitter feed is also worth subscribing to: https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea
  - jeffbee 6y ago
    The map basically shows the entire state of California. Saved you a click.
casefields 6y ago
Here's a great map: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgHuZ8XUcAEii18?format=png&name=900x900 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EgHuZ8XUcAEii18?format=png&name=...
- dylan604 6y ago
  I found this interactive map compelling: https://nifc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=69fca73a82df4fefa7c0e48b66d0899d&extent=-123.2395,36.6849,-119.5618,38.1032 https://nifc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/View/index.html?appid=69fc...
  - guerrilla 6y ago
    There's these two using satellite data as well [1][2]. Live webcams for a bonus [3]. [1]. https://firemap.sdsc.edu/ https://firemap.sdsc.edu/ [2]. https://mappingsupport.com/p2/gissurfer.php?basemap=USA_basemap&overlay=VIIRS_24_hours,MODIS_24_hours,ESRI_roads_and_labels&txtfile=https://mappingsupport.com/p2/special_maps/disaster/USA_wildland_fire.txt https://mappingsupport.com/p2/gissurfer.php?basemap=USA_base... [3]. http://www.alertwildfire.org/northbay/index.html?camera=Axis-StHelenaSouth&v=518dd6b http://www.alertwildfire.org/northbay/index.html?camera=Axis...
coding123 6y ago
For those that DO live here, a number of somewhat similar thunderstorms are in the forecast for the exact same days as last week (Sunday - Tuesday).

Fauntleroy 6y ago

It's useful to see the pollution numbers on the sensors, but it's also just as interesting to see which sensors have been destroyed and for how long. You can track the fire just by seeing when sensors go offline, if you know where to look.

anamexis 6y ago
Not necessarily destroyed, but at least without power.

snoshy 6y ago

What is the source for this data?

stbtrax 6y ago
They have devices that you can buy and install. Check out their website
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

oski 6y ago

Make sure to use the “LRAPA” conversion on purpleair.com https://twitter.com/rengiec/status/1296486310123905024?s=20 https://twitter.com/rengiec/status/1296486310123905024?s=20

modeless 6y ago

I like PurpleAir's air quality map but felt it was a bit too slow to check frequently. So I used their API to make the fastest air quality site around: https://aqi.today https://aqi.today

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

ericand 6y ago

What's with indoor sensors being default on? Is there some value to then that I don't understand?

wmichelin 6y ago
Seriously. My partners school was saying they will open this week (on top of COVID, of all things) if the AQI is not in the red. The sensor they're using is indoor. This website is actively doing harm with these configurations, granted, so is the school administration. COVID is bringing out the worst in all parts of our society. It has been such a stressful time, and I am someone who has some financial security. I can't imagine how tough things are on the average American right now. Stay strong everybody. We will make it out of this.
stbtrax 6y ago
This is very frustrating. Agreed, they should turn them off by default.
- mjrpes 6y ago
  I sent their team an email two years ago with exactly that feedback, and their response was: "Thank you for the feedback. We are working on an update that will 'save' your preferred map view when logged in on the PurpleAir website. However, it is not published yet." See my post above how I am able to bookmark the site after I choose the settings I want and it remember these choices when I visit again.
mjrpes 6y ago
If you bookmark the website after you have zoomed in on your area and toggled settings (unchecked indoor sensors, LRAPA), it will remember your settings.

dang 6y ago

See also: a thread from 2018: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18714777 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18714777

archarios 6y ago

It seems like they're out of indoor sensors by the way I ordered one and they printed a shipping label then canceled it.

ilyagr 6y ago

I've found http://www.airnow.gov http://www.airnow.gov very helpful and faster to load than the Purple Air map. They also have a simple but efficient app. Airnow's map is slow to load, but shows smoke, air monitors (including the Purple Air ones^[footnote]), and fires all at once: https://fire.airnow.gov/?lat=37.40&lng=-122.077&zoom=10# https://fire.airnow.gov/?lat=37.40&lng=-122.077&zoom=10# A less detailed, fast, static map for the SF Bay Area is available at http://www.baaqmd.gov http://www.baaqmd.gov. Last, but not least, there is a forecast of surface-level smoke available at https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/ https://hwp-viz.gsd.esrl.noaa.gov/smoke/. I found it from https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea https://twitter.com/NWSBayArea, which is a good source of news for the Bay Area. [footnote]: To make the numbers match, I had to set PurpleAir to show One-Hour Averages with the LRAPA scoring. See https://imgur.com/a/d6yFtow https://imgur.com/a/d6yFtow.

toomuchtodo 6y ago
Thank you for sharing this!
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
krat0sprakhar 6y ago
Didn't know about airnow.gov - thanks! I'm surprised though why the data is so different between airnow and purpleair. On AirNow, SF currently shows unhealthy air (150~) whereas purpleair shows 88 (moderate). Which one of these is more reliable and real-time?
- tmpz22 6y ago
  Purple air has a mix of indoor sensors, try using the filter to hide indoor sensors and you should see more of a parity between the two.
- fossuser 6y ago
  I think purple air is better. Purple air relies on a bunch of devices people have bought and installed all over. I think airnow is just a handful of government ones?

tempsy 6y ago

this year is like a sad joke. if covid didn’t kill San Francisco these fires will be the breaking point. it has become that for me.

scurvy 6y ago
What about the fires last year? Or two years ago? Those were worse for SF proper. It looked like Mars or the end of days 2 years ago.
- novok 6y ago
  No covid... Can't meet people inside or outside now, plus an economy that is close to starving people. Most places are 3 meals away from a revolution.

supernova87a 6y ago

Maybe someone can share/explain -- Purple Air sells you a sensor that you can install, and then takes the data, displays it on their website for lots of people to view, and then presumably makes money off the data you send them? Why should you have to pay for the sensor then?

bittercynic 6y ago
Personally, I probably wouldn't, but if you wanted to know about the air quality at your home this would be one way to do it.
suzakus 6y ago
You don't have to make it public. I bought a sensor from them and marked it private, so it doesn't appear on the map. From installation guide: https://www2.purpleair.com/pages/install https://www2.purpleair.com/pages/install If you set your sensor to private, you may view it by logging in to the PurpleAir map using a Gmail address that matches the "Owner's Email" in the registration form. Alternatively, you can use the link provided in the registration confirmation email. You may share this link with family and friends.
IvyMike 6y ago
Here's a NYT article on the origins of Purple Air. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/style/air-quality-pollution-monitors.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/30/style/air-quality-polluti... I have a Purple Air sensor; I view the money I spent on it as helping to sponsor a "citizen science" project. Could the nature of the project change in the future, to where I feel like I was taken advantage of? Sure, I guess. But I'm ok taking that risk.
- supernova87a 6y ago
  I see. Ok, well at least it's not some tech app service trying to charge on the front end and make money off the back too.

Zhenya 6y ago

Submitted a quick instruction on how to make an air purifier. Link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24251509 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24251509 Copy/pasta to help folks: Note: this is not my idea, but I have used it for 2 Cal fire seasons successfully. 1) Acquire a box fan 2) Acquire a large "FPR 10" rated filter from home depot 3) Duct tape filter to the out flow side of the box fan. Make sure the arrows on the filter point in the correct airflow direction. This works dramatically well for very little dollars and can help save your lungs if air purifiers are not available or expensive.

ilyagr 6y ago
How loud is it?
- Zhenya 6y ago
  Not loud at all. Just a background hum. However, I'm sure it's a function of the box fan motor. I have a cheap one and it's perfectly fine to sleep in the same room.

ahaucnx 6y ago

We are a new startup (currently doing Startup School) to provide air quality monitoring solutions especially for schools. From the beginning it was important for us to give back to the community so we setup AirGradient for Education providing free tutorials and advise. We just published our open source and open hardware air quality sensor measuring PM2.5, CO2, Temperature and Humdity. So you can build your own sensor with a small display to measure the air quality in and around your home. We call it the AirGradient DIY sensor. Build instructions, Code and Hardware files can be found on our project page: https://www.airgradient.com/diy/ https://www.airgradient.com/diy/ It would be great to hear feedback from you! PS: We are also looking for schools that are interested in improving air quality to learn more about their needs and possible solutions. Please PM me for more information.

Animats 6y ago

Site down: Over Quota This application is temporarily over its serving quota. Please try again later.