AIRNOW
Investment ID: 020-000011072
Overview
Program Title
AIRNOW
Description
Real-time air quality data for 50 states and air quality forecasts for over 500 cities collected and distributed to the public and national media. Data delivered from state and local agencies and merged for presentation on the EPA AirNow website.
Type of Program
Non-major IT Investments
Multi-Agency Category
0
Associated Websites
www.airnow.gov
Shared Services
Investment Detail
Internal to the government, this investment leverages funding already spent on monitoring networks. Those networks were funded by grants, but submission of realtime data was not required. AirNow harvests realtime data from existing networks, thereby making more use of existing resources. Externally, AirNow benefits the public by allowing citizens to use realtime air quality conditions, as well as forecasts, to plan daily activities to avoid exposure to unhealthy air. Further, AirNow benefits state and local air quality agencies by removing some of the burden required to distribute data to the public.