Although its data isn’t as reliable as the readings provided by the more sophisticated devices in AirNow’s network, air quality specialists have found PurpleAir’s cheap, plentiful devices hard to resist. After a successful trial run by environmental officials in Southern California in 2016, Dybwad was soon fielding requests for the devices from air quality groups and academics across the country. During wildfires, local firefighters and the EPA’s air resource advisors have begun turning to PurpleAir’s sensors to help guide the placement of temporary air monitoring devices and to provide more immediate data to municipalities and emergency responders. How AirNow and PurpleAir Connected In 2019, Congress signed the Dingell Act into law, which for the first time mandated a better way to protect Americans from wildfire smoke. Soon, fire specialists at the USFS Research and Development unit and Interagency Wildland Fire Air Quality Response Program began a partnership with colleagues at the EPA. In the interest of better tracking fast-moving wildfire smoke, they wondered if they could integrate PurpleAir’s vast data into the official AirNow map. 26 On the East Coast on August 22, 2023, air quality was good, despite being sandwiched between smoke to the north and south.
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