Wow, does anyone remember when we last saw so many green dots across the state's air quality monitoring map? The clouds, wind and drizzle over the weekend got us great bang for the buck and reduced fire activity in the Cascades and also in British Columbia.
Since there is no imminent danger of returning to the terrible conditions we've all endured, we're asking you to please take a moment and send some feedback on this blog. Our aim is to provide the public with wildfire smoke-related air quality information, and we'd like to make sure we're doing that effectively.
This survey will take no more than 5 minutes to complete. Thank you very much!
Monday, August 27, 2018
56 comments:
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Hey! The survey linked is showing up in "preview mode" - it says it's not collecting data!
ReplyDeleteApologies- its now fixed. Appreciate if you could try again
DeleteThe maps are very helpful but I noticed they don't update very often. Why not have updates every ten minutes or so instead of every few hours?
ReplyDeleteMonitors only report hourly averages, which are refreshed every hour. This is the EPA reporting convention
DeleteI noticed that the maps did change to reflect PDT (vs PSTs' extra +1hr), after early feedback, which was very helpful! Fwiw I think it would also be more accurate to timestamp each report with the final minute of its data range, rather than the first -- i.e., represent the time series 3:00-3:59pm with the latter time, rather than the former.
DeleteThe current practice, like failing to adjust -1hr for daylight savings, makes the data seem less up-to-date than it actually is (unless, of course, I've grossly misunderstood/misrepresented your earlier explanation of the timestamps)... just my $0.02
Hi CJ, Yes I understand that it makes the data look dated. Global convention for air quality data reporting is to report at the start of the hour. So the instantaneous data from 3- 359 are averaged together and reported as the 3PM reading. So you are looking at a true 1-hr average, not the last minute of the hour.
DeleteThis website provided vital information needed for wellness planning purposes. Although it has been over 10 years since I quit smoking and over 10 years since my last major asthma attack, I still have breathing difficulties from time to time. I'm also approaching my 64th birthday. I am grateful to all those who make this website possible. Thanks so much !
DeleteI took the survey. I wanted to say thank you for the useful information in the blog.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the information! This is a great resource to stay up-to-date on air quality and forecasts.
ReplyDeleteYou all are awesome! Thanks for the daily updates!
ReplyDeleteFor current conditions, I go to the fortress.wa site. I've appreciated this site for info on health effects (and what to do) as well as historical info/comparisons, forecasts, and explanations of what's going on meteorologically. Once the smoke season is over, I won't visit the site, but during smoky times, it's a great resource -- thanks.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your efforts and quick replys to my questions . Much appreciated
ReplyDeleteThe language of the #2 Q+As seems to imply that you've received overwhelmingly negative feedback regarding the amount of text on the site. I don't mind if you throw an extra click or two in the way of those who want to read more, if we're in the minority, but please don't REPLACE any text or data with e.g. video/infographics/puppet shows/whatever. :) If you do end up reorganizing the site to minimize text on the front page, please consider doing so in a way that doesn't reduce the total amount of text/data available to those of us interested in learning more.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is a tremendous resource; I've learned quite a bit, and passed a lot of it on to family and friends as well. Your efforts are all very much appreciated... Thank you!!
Agree!
DeleteI'm sorry; I don't see a link to the survey. However, I found this site very helpful re the air quality. I have friends all across the state, and it was very helpful to know what was happening.
ReplyDeleteKyra, the link is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WASmokeBlog. thanks!
DeleteThis blog is great! Good value, good use of taxpayer resources (according to this taxpayer). I learned a good deal from the blog, and also thought it was great that your team was so responsive in the comments section. I shared this site with several friends, and they found it valuable as well. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteI have checked into your site many times each day during smoke events, and I am grateful for the information you provide. I wish there was a monitor located in the San Juan Islands, as the closest monitors geographically often vary considerably from one another. Also, could you provide an explanation of the differences in the air quality numbers from your site to the Washington State air monitoring site and the EPA site? Thank you very much for all you do!
ReplyDeleteHi, yes we're looking into a monitor in Friday Harbor.
DeleteThe ECY vs EPA discrepancy is a question we get a L-O-T. Please see the section titled "WAQA vs AQI" on http://wasmoke.blogspot.com/p/state.html
Greatly appreciate the detailed updates and very helpful air quality/fire map. Please keep it up! This helped me get a handle on what was happening and what to expect next. I also consult the map during the non-wildfire season to monitor regional air quality. Great service, thank you very much!
ReplyDeleteI so appreciate what you are providing!
ReplyDeleteI filled out the survey and Echo those above who want to make sure that great detail is preserved in whatever formatting changes occur. I learn a lot, I share a lot, and have made important travel decisions based on the information you provide. In addition, I purchased n95 masks in AZ per last week's information and brought them back to Seattle for family and friends. Thanks again so much! Chris.
Thanks so much for this blog, I use it daily for Western Washington forecasts when smoke is around.
ReplyDeleteOnly thing I've been confused about is the different types of PM2.5 monitors. The station I look at has a monitor named "NPM25" and "FEM_TPM25." If I download 12 hours of data and calculate the NowCast, the map on this page uses the FEM_TPM25 to calculate it's NowCast value you see when clicking the station, but the WA Ecology site uses the NPM25 data to calculate the WAQA. The reason I'm confused is because these 2 different PM2.5 sensors often give quite different values when it's smoky out.
OK this involves a deep dive explanation so please bear with me:
DeleteNPM25 = PM2.5 measured with a nephelometer
FEM_TPM25 = PM2.5 measured with a Federally Equivalent Method (FEM) Tapered Elemental Oscillating Micrtobalance (TEOM).
FEMs measurements are legally binding for purposes of complying with federal standards, nephelometers which dont have the FEM certification are not. Nevertheless nephs are used for air quality tracking, forecasting and planning purposes. Co-located Nephs & FEM TEOMs dont read the same concentrations on an hourly basis, so any subsequent calculations (such as NowCast) are going to differ.
NowCast: are you following the steps outlined on pages 6-7 of https://www3.epa.gov/airnow/ani/pm25_aqi_reporting_nowcast_overview.pdf?
The NowCast value reported on the map above is based on EPA's Air Quality Index, while the data reported on ECY's webpage are based on our own WAQA scheme. See an explanation of the two here: http://wasmoke.blogspot.com/p/state.html. Same hourly data run through the same NowCast algorithm but different breakpoints used to determine the index & colors. Hope that helps
Thanks so much for your answer. On the map that I see above, NowCast does not use EPA's Air Quality Index, it only reports in ug/m^3 (maybe the color is, but not the value). My main questions were why the map above uses a different monitor in the station than the Ecology site, which I think you answered: simply different sources. And yes, I used the method you linked for 12-hour weighted averages - using the FEM_TPM25, the calculation matches this page's NowCast, using NPM25 the calculation matches the WAQA (converted with WAQA breakpoints).
DeleteAny idea which one is more reliable? When the smoke was bad, sometimes the sensors were differing by over 20 ug/m^3, and at times if the WAQA used the FEM, it would have been reported as Unhealthy instead of Very Unhealthy.
Sorry wasnt clear earlier. Last 12 hrs of 1-hr data are processed with the NowCast algorithm to determine the NowCast concentration (in µg/m³). That in turn is converted into and AQI (or WAQA) and the color (and air quality category) read off.
DeleteAnyway, which site is this? The FEM is usually more reliable and WAQA values should be calculated on the FEM if such a monitor is present. Nephs are known to over-estimate wildfire smoke concentrations because they're calibrated to work best during woodsmoke episodes. The chemical and physical makeup of particles determines the neph's response, and woodsmoke particles can be quite different from wildfire smoke particles. We're looking into a fix for this.
Last week, I was looking at the Kent-Central&James and Tukwila Allentown stations, where the WAQA values at https://fortress.wa.gov/ecy/enviwa/Default.htm seemed to be coming from the NPM25 monitor, where the FEM_PM25 monitor values for the previous 12 hours were much lower (obtained from the "Site Report" link).
DeleteAs of right now (5:57pm PDT), none of the numbers seem to be adding up much (the above map lists the Nowcast at 12.3 for Kent, where it's been under 12 for the last 8 hours according to a Site Report and a manual Nowcast calculation says it should be around 7.9)
Anyway, going back and forth on here probably isn't that effective. If you can, I would have someone just double check the Kent and Tukwila stations to verify the WAQA is being calculated correctly, and with the right sensor. In the past, I've been able to exactly match the WAQA by manually calculating it from 12 hours of data (and it was great fun learning about all of this), but today I wasn't able to.
DeleteThanks again for this very helpful blog and your awesome interaction with the community.
So I've dug into this & discovered that you are indeed correct. Appreciate you taking the time to engage with us and point it out. I will ask the relevant folks to ensure that Kent's and Tukwila's AQI (and WAQA) is keyed to the FEM and not the Neph. These are sites operated by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and started out with Nephs. However when the FEMs were installed subsequently, the latter wasnt designated as the official monitor. We'll sort this out soon. Thanks again!
DeleteI love the blog and think it's great. This has been an extremely stressful time period for those of us with health issues such as my kid with asthma, trying to decide when to go to work or keep missing key life obligations etc. This is the only place where there are real summaries of the situation and outlook. Please don't delete text, I like reading the more the better to understand the situation. If anything I'd like more posts, texts, commentary, etc. Thank you so much! Hopefully we are through the worst of it this year. I check this blog several times a day when it is smokey or might be.
ReplyDeleteSecond this. Having this blog to read has been a strange comfort during a difficult time in NCW. Thank you all so much.
DeleteI agree with both of you. I've also found this extremely comforting during these extreme smoke events.
DeleteYou are all terrific. Where is the survey? I'd love to tell you how much I appreciate your help. As an asthmatic, the information is really life critical for me. Victoria
ReplyDeleteThanks! The link is https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WASmokeBlog
DeleteHaving a child with life threatening asthma is a struggle enough. A few minutes out of doors in slightly smoky air causes the need to heavily medicate. Watching your updates on a daily basis is a lifeline. Literally. I'd like a daily update about smoke levels, not just for the Columbia basin , but for fire sizes, fire control, fire locations in one place. Instead i have to troll several webpages each day for information. It may be too much to ask.
ReplyDeleteYour site has been a godsend to our family. I check the blog at least once per day and the smoke index several times to determine when we can open windows or go outside. This information is not available anywhere else and we really rely on it. Our friends and neighbors do too. This data is equally important in the winter, when wood fires create pollution. Over time, as our climate continues to heat up, this information will become ever more vital to our health. Thank you so much for the critically important information you provide. We appreciate you!
ReplyDeleteWhen I wake each morning, the 1st thing I do is get my coffee...the 2nd thing I do, is check this smoke blog. You all have done a great job, keeping us informed. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I just want to say...I really appreciate the fact that you don't ignore us all over here on the eastern side of the mtns. Took the survey😊👍
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for keeping this up to date!
ReplyDeleteI have been completely addicted to your website. It is so helpful for me in determining when it is ok to be outside with my daughter. Thank you!!
ReplyDeleteLove this site, thanks for doing such a good job with it.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for keeping us informed. As a person with health issues, and family with them as well, you helped us immensely.
ReplyDeleteTook the survey as well. Our biggest concern is that since these heavy smoke incidents have been going on two years in a row, is this what Washington State can expect EVERY summer from now on. And I think it's time Washington Ecology took a stand on climate change, and how it might relate to what is rapidly becoming a norm.
ReplyDeleteStrongly agree with this.
DeleteI would like to see arrows from each recording station that indicate the relative wind speed and direct, so I can estimate where the smoke is moving. EG if the sensor is north of me, I can estimate the conditions in my area if the wind is heading south.
ReplyDeleteHi, thanks for the feedback but there are technical limitations here: first, we dont measure winds at all fine particle pollution monitoring sites. Second, winds directions dont always imply strait line transport of pollutants because there is often terrain that affects winds. Light winds meander a lot. A better way to estimate if pollution is headed your way is to check the models and forecasts. Are all sites in the area elevated or are you looking at a localized plume, etc.
DeleteYour blog was extremely useful for getting up to date information about the smoke. Hopefully it will stay green for a while now!
ReplyDeleteyour commitment to providing spanish language information is laudable, however is somewhat uneven. for example, there is no spanish language survey, which surely skews the results. please consider improvements in this area, perhaps including questions about primary/preferred language.
ReplyDeleteFirst Thing I read in the day...helps me manage my asthma by modifying my activity and outdoor exposure. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to weigh in, since there was no spot on the survey to express my appreciation for this resource. It's been so helpful to me as a new mother since learning about it last summer. I check it multiple times per day when there's a smoke event, so I can plan my kiddo's time outside accordingly.
ReplyDeleteA couple of additional thoughts:
-I agree with a previous poster that a Spanish-language survey should be issued. I think the English-language one cannot accurately determine the value of Spanish-language resources because of its innate structural bias.
-Even if responding to individual comments is less efficient than simply creating one detailed blog post, I think it has really helped to build a sense of public trust in this resource. I personally feel more connected with you, seeing the names of staff who are responding to individuals' comments, and I think this is a valuable aspect of it that wasn't touched on in the survey.
Overall, I just want to applaud you all for creating something so useful for everyone. Thank you again!
I checked this blog first thing every morning. The information is valuable and clearly presented. However, I suspect your introduction to the survey is a bit misleading. I can't imagine that 1.4 million people visited the site, but I can imagine that the site received 1.4 million visits. Thanks, too, for blogging about Omak. In the middle of misery over the smoke, I had a little fun with that on my own blog: https://marykoch.com/2018/08/24/were-not-quite-no-1/
ReplyDelete:) yes you're right.
DeleteI have a question, and I don't know if this was answered earlier. Why is the dot color sometimes a 50 pgm2.5 category greater and worse than the reported pgm2.5?
ReplyDeleteI know that sometimes different agencies do that, but why not be clearer and make the ppm 2.5 number correspond universally with the correct color code and thus the meaning of severity of smoky air.
As opposed to the Eastern U.S., where ozone is a contributing factor added on to the ppm 2.5 number, I believe that we don't have much ozone or other pollutants out West, with the obvious exception go southern and central California.
So why not match the ppm 2.5 number accurately with the color of the dots so people really know what they are dealing with, and not have to guess at the interpretation or what our eyes and senses are also telling us?
Perhaps this is the difference between Federal and State air and smoke agencies, but it only dilutes the meaning of these maps. An interchangeable universal color code and ppm 2.5 number is most preferably for people to protect their own health.
Thank you, Robert in Wa.
Robert, if I understand your question correctly, you're asking why the PM2.5 concentration (NowCast value, in µg/m³) doesnt line up with EPA's Air Quality Index (AQI) or the Washington Air Quality Advisory (WAQA) values. AQIs (or WAQAs) are calculated from concentrations for the purpose of categorizing current air quality (Good, Unhealthy etc). If you're asking about the difference between AQI & WAQA, please see the section at the bottom https://wasmoke.blogspot.com/p/state.html.
DeleteOzone is only a concern in a few areas here, but the WAQA does report the combined PM2.5 and O3 risks.
Thanks for all your help with forecasting. So there will be no more smoke for Eastern Washington? I don't like smoke at all. Again thanks for all the help.
ReplyDeleteYes there will be more smoke since the fires are not out. Posted an update today
DeleteReiterating that this blog is a fantastic resource- I work in health and safety and have referred many of our employees here when they have questions regarding their exposures, forecasts, and recommendations for respiratory protection. One thing I'd like to applaud are some of the scientific literacy-style posts that have cropped up in recent weeks, including the "we don't know the long-term effects of exposure to wildfire smoke yet" and "direct comparison of our air quality to that of Beijing isn't really valid". I'd love to see one on "Exposure to our high AQI for a day does not equate to smoking 7 cigarettes", a number which is cited by a lot of usually reputable news sources but is based on a very poor, oversimplified comparison memo published by Berkeley Earth. It gets traction every year and really annoys this industrial hygienist.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the fantastic work!