Many people have realized that the DEQ air quality sensor located at the Ashland Fire Department is slow to respond to changes in air quality, which is the same for all DEQ sites in Oregon. There is a growing network of "low cost sensors", of which the most common is Purple Air. There are over a dozen Purple Air sensors in the Ashland area and they can be helpful...if you know how to use them. Here's how:
1. Go to www.purpleair.com/map and navigate to Ashland. If asked, let it see your location so you can open to Ashland each time in the future.
2. IMPORTANT! Go to the lower left hand menu and click on a tab called "Conversion". Where conversion says "None", change it to "US EPA". If you don't do this, the data is just plain wrong.
3. Make sure the "Map Data Layer" is set to "US EPA PM 2.5 AQI". It defaults to this, but good to check that you're looking at the right reading.
3. Unless you have an indoor sensor on the map, or are looking for indoor air sensors, you can turn off indoor sensors by clicking the box on the same lower left hand menu that says "Inside Sensors". Inside sensor readings are the circles with a black line around them.
4. Find the outdoor sensor closest to you and look at the reading. You can change the timeframe of the data you're seeing by changing the box under the "Conversion" reading from "Real Time" to any number of choices from 10 minute average to one whole day.
Purple Air monitors are helpful because, when the correction is applied, they give you a good indication of the real time air quality and in intervals where you can guage how quickly the air quality is changing, and how air quality may differ across the community and also in areas that may not have a DEQ monitor. Purple Air does not predict air quality.
The material contained on this website is for informational purposes only. The information on this website is NOT intended to diagnose, treat or substitute for professional medical advice. Those with medical conditions or sensitivities to smoke should seek the advice of a licensed medical provider. If individuals need more information, they should consult a medical professional.
