Air Quality Conditions

Air Quality Camera Views

Purple Air: Realtime Air Quality Conditions

The map below is generated by PurpleAir. This grassroots organization relies on volunteers to allow air sensors to be placed on their businesses or homes. PurpleAir uses the same scale that the Environmental Protection Agency uses – the Air Quality Index scale – to compare and measure pollutants in the air.

The scale uses green for good, yellow for moderate, orange for unhealthy for sensitive groups, red for unhealthy, purple for very unhealthy and maroon for hazardous. The Air Quality Index above is also useful, but only monitors several County-wide sensors. Click here to learn more about AQI.

Understanding Alert Levels

Understanding Air Quality

Air quality is the state of air that promotes optimal health. Air quality impacts how you live and breathe. It can change from day to day, even hour to hour. Mesa County Public Health is constantly monitoring air quality with forecast models, measurement tools and observation. Our team utilizes this local data to inform and educate community members about current air quality conditions. This data, over time, helps shape local policies on clean air.

What impacts our Air Quality

We use a measurement system called AQI (air quality index) developed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assign a numerical value to the air quality. This system takes four major air pollutants into account, ground-level ozone, particle pollution, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. The higher the AQI, the greater the level of air pollution.