[HN Gopher] Real-Time Air Quality Index Visual Map
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       Real-Time Air Quality Index Visual Map
        
       Author : simonebrunozzi
       Score  : 62 points
       Date   : 2023-07-05 13:37 UTC (9 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (aqicn.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (aqicn.org)
        
       | jahnu wrote:
       | All this data out there and Apple still don't have good AQI
       | coverage.
        
       | tapland wrote:
       | How does this differ from waqi.info ?
        
       | retrac98 wrote:
       | Why is air quality generally worse further inland?
        
         | pama wrote:
         | Most of the air pollutants are generated inland, and most of
         | the poor quality air remains somewhat local (or within a couple
         | hundred miles) from the source. Oceans provide a lot of space
         | for the particles to diffuse and eventually get captured.
        
       | billfor wrote:
       | Is there any api where I can contribute my pm 2.5 data ? All of
       | these sites have r/o apis. Even if the data is not 100% accurate
       | and calibrated they could still crowdsource it like they do for
       | temp and humidity.
        
         | tlofreso wrote:
         | Check out this: https://openaq.org/ Found via this:
         | https://www.airgradient.com/blog/hidden-costs-of-air-quality...
        
       | bilekas wrote:
       | I mentioned it on another related thread but the strange thing is
       | the more measurements you have the less quality the air seems to
       | be.
       | 
       | It's a really tricky measurement to both grade and analyse
       | because the more dense the city, the more measurements will be
       | taken but also the more pollution will naturally occur.
       | 
       | it's just something to consider when reading this kind of data.
        
       | ldehaan wrote:
       | [dead]
        
       | chrislan815 wrote:
       | wow Japan and Taiwan have pretty good air quality.
        
         | pkaye wrote:
         | I wonder if time of day makes a difference.
        
       | xur17 wrote:
       | https://www.airnow.gov is a fairly good equivalent for the US.
       | Includes a heat map, which is a bit easier to parse as well.
        
         | Izkata wrote:
         | OP linked to Europe for some reason, but this site does have
         | the whole world: https://aqicn.org/map/world/
         | 
         | Then across the top are links for various countries but you can
         | also just zoom in wherever.
        
       | jp191919 wrote:
       | I have grown to like windy.com, just turn on the air quality
       | layer PM2.5
        
       | AdamJacobMuller wrote:
       | https://grafana.adam.gs/dashboard/snapshot/HYW4MBLhhhKDJjRMH...
       | 
       | Fireworks near me, last night!
        
       | jklinger410 wrote:
       | Please correct the title to reflect that this is for Europe only.
        
         | eric-hu wrote:
         | I see data for other continents too
        
       | kalupa wrote:
       | And here's a smoke prediction tracker for north america
       | https://firesmoke.ca
        
       | countvonbalzac wrote:
       | The air quality in several cities in the US dropped noticeably
       | after the fireworks. Similar to the air quality after the
       | wildfires.
        
         | ryantgtg wrote:
         | Today is usually the worst day of the year for air quality in
         | Los Angeles (where I am).
        
           | whartung wrote:
           | AQ of 200 this morning in the IE. Fontana pumped explosives
           | into the air for 4-5 hours last night. Spectacle to watch,
           | but this morning, combined with just normal atmospheric
           | conditions, it was about 1/2 mile visibility all over the
           | valley this morning. Orange sunrise to be sure.
        
       | godelski wrote:
       | Googlers: why isn't this in Android's weather app yet?
       | 
       | You'll give me warnings, your data source gives AQI (with
       | details! PM2.5, CO, NO2, O3, PM10, SO2), but you think people are
       | more about dew point, pressure, and humidity? I mean do most
       | people understand these numbers? What percentage actually
       | understand humidity?
       | 
       | But seriously, give me the AQI. The official app has 5+M
       | downloads and all the weather apps have it. Even Apple has it!
       | (actually their weather app is great. Take note). Seriously, why
       | is this not here? You would think it would be a common feature
       | given all the fires California has and the increasing number
       | country wide the last few years. Low hanging fruit here...
        
       | solardev wrote:
       | If you're in the US, you can also just turn on the AQI layer in
       | Google Maps. It uses data from Airnow and PurpleAir.
       | 
       | Out west, fireworks started a few wildfires and the air is bad
       | again :( Peak Murica, let's shoot some explosives at nothing and
       | see what burns lol
       | 
       | Edit: Wait, my bad, there isn't an identified link between
       | _these_ specific wildfires and yesterday 's fireworks. That was
       | just my own (biased) assumption.
        
         | MiguelHudnandez wrote:
         | It is pretty easy to determine a link.
         | https://katu.com/news/local/fireworks-blamed-for-six-wildfir...
         | 
         | We legally light stuff on fire and launch it in the air, that
         | will absolutely result in additional fires.
         | 
         | These fires were contained, so the bigger wildfires are just
         | continuing to do their thing. These probably distract from
         | larger firefighting efforts, though.
        
           | Zetice wrote:
           | It's not really accurate to say we "light stuff on fire"
           | considering how fireworks function.
           | 
           | Not much in a firework is actually all that hot post
           | explosion, for example.
        
             | solardev wrote:
             | Can you explain? Are you saying something about the
             | chemistry or mechanics of fireworks makes them unable or
             | unlikely to start wildfires, vs say a smoldering campfire
             | or lightning or whatever?
        
               | Zetice wrote:
               | Yeah, basically. Their main goal is to emit their energy
               | via light, not heat, and while if you fire one right into
               | a dense, dry forest it won't go well, their standard use
               | has their explosion occur in the open air, after which
               | the remains are generally pretty cool.
        
               | solardev wrote:
               | Don't the "embers" (if that's even the right
               | word/phenomenon) remain fiery though? The last show I
               | went to, about half the explosions started small ground
               | fires that staff had to manually put out every few
               | minutes.
        
               | msrenee wrote:
               | They stay hot, but not so much fiery generally. You're
               | talking about a professional fireworks show as well,
               | which are going to be bigger and presumably hotter.
               | Lighting off artillery shells last night, by the time the
               | debris fluttered down, it was cool to the touch. The
               | tubes on the ground are a different story though. Shoot,
               | the debris from the one the neighbors so kindly dropped
               | in the tube upside down when I was 30 feet away didn't
               | burn me. Wasn't happy about it, but wasn't even singed.
               | 
               | Were they lighting the fireworks directly on a dry field?
               | How far from the tubes were these fires starting?
        
           | solardev wrote:
           | I'd be for a national fireworks ban, personally, especially
           | during the summer wildfire seasons.
           | 
           | But it wouldn't be fair to attribute the poor air quality
           | today specifically to fireworks unless evidence links them.
           | 
           | The last 4th of July show I watched had designated people on
           | the ground stamping out fires as they started. It seemed
           | ridiculous to me for the city to still do them in such a dry
           | area, but at least each little fire was put out within
           | seconds. It was wild seeing the explosions happen, then tiny
           | people running around and putting them out, occasionally with
           | the help of a firetruck. In the end it worked out pretty well
           | and none of the fires spread or lasted past the fireworks
           | show. But still kinda unreal to witness...
        
           | rampant_ai wrote:
           | A lot of it too is the fireworks themselves. Turns out having
           | millions of people lighting them almost constantly for
           | several hours in an area that had little wind all night and
           | is surrounded by mountains affects the air quality.
           | 
           | Rancho Cucamonga is over 300 AQI (hazardous) this morning.
           | 
           | https://www.ocregister.com/2023/07/04/officials-warn-of-
           | poor...
        
         | pugio wrote:
         | I've found that Google's reporting severely under reports air
         | quality (making it look better than it is). The purple air map
         | itself seems much more reliable for tracking actual local air
         | quality.
         | 
         | I use purple air zoomed out combined with windy.com to generate
         | my own smoke predictions, it's worked pretty well for me.
        
         | lamontcg wrote:
         | > Edit: Wait, my bad, there isn't an identified link between
         | these specific wildfires and yesterday's fireworks. That was
         | just my own (biased) assumption.
         | 
         | They certainly did start the 2017 fire in the Columbia River
         | Gorge though:
         | 
         | https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/22/613374984...
         | 
         | Fireworks are now banned in Portland after an apartment
         | building burned down due to a dumpster fire started by
         | fireworks, which killed two people in 2021:
         | 
         | https://www.opb.org/article/2021/07/08/northeast-portland-ap...
         | 
         | Personal fireworks are idiotic and people who light then off
         | should be ashamed of themselves, it is like driving drunk, they
         | all think they're safe and they can handle it.
        
       | Izkata wrote:
       | There's a spot in Chicago that this map currently says is "49 -
       | Good" (within the 0 - 50 range), but is colored yellow for
       | Moderate. Some sort of minor bug I assume, but it means the broad
       | view of mostly looking at the dot colors might not be correct.
        
       | frereubu wrote:
       | Presuming the stats are correct, it's interesting how localised
       | this can be - unhealthy levels very close to healthly levels. I
       | read a pollution report on my city recently where they talked
       | about pollution "canyons", busy roads surrounded on both sides by
       | tall buildings, which kept the pollution focused on that road.
        
       | ck2 wrote:
       | All these third-parties are just using limited APIs from other
       | networks and sometimes only one source like the US government
       | network which has very few sensors very far away from most
       | people.
       | 
       | Other network maps:
       | 
       | https://google.com/maps/@/data=!5m1!1e9
       | 
       | https://gispub.epa.gov/airnow/
       | 
       | https://map.purpleair.com/
       | 
       | https://map.airgradient.com/
       | 
       | https://www.iqair.com/air-quality-map
       | 
       | https://data.usatoday.com/fires/
        
       | knodi123 wrote:
       | wtf happened in serbia?
       | 
       | https://aqicn.org/station/serbia/zajecar/%D0%BA%D1%80%D1%83%...
        
         | Krasnol wrote:
         | I'd guess it's a badly situated or configured sensor.
        
           | ody4242 wrote:
           | I have seen similar numbers from multiple sensors across our
           | city during the fireworks at New Years eve.
        
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       (page generated 2023-07-05 23:02 UTC)