Official Data

There are zillions of pages of official data out there on the web, some better than others. So, how do you know where to find what you're looking for? Here are some tried-and-true links you might find useful in comparing your own results, or doing research for a project. If you'd like to suggest a link for us to add to this list, send us an email.

Before you start looking around for data, it might be helpful to know what the standards are - what the governmental agencies consider a safe or acceptable level of a particular type of pollution. You can find those standards at:

• U.S. Standards

United States Environmental Protection Agency pages:

• The USEPA has pages describing the Air Quality Index, a daily measure of how healthy the air is for people.
  You can see detailed information for your state
  Or you can look at the AQI forecast for the entire U.S.
  
• You can also access the archives for animated maps that show pollution levels rise and fall for a 12-hour period in most areas of the United States.
  
• The USEPA also has pages of air pollution data. The main page is a guide to the air quality monitoring activities of the USEPA; the sub-sections contain links to official data files.

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is investigating urban air quality - you can find some cool maps and images.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a great data page that contains links to numerous data files and other agencies that collect data, especially with regard to climate change and global warming.

The Stratospheric Ozone and Human Health Project, coordinated by the Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center, has maps of current stratospheric ozone levels and data on the human health impacts (like skin cancer) of our thinning stratospheric ozone layer.

Lots of the information and maps on the Stratospheric Ozone and Human Health Project came from TOMS - Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer. On this site you can actually see the size of the hole in the ozone layer.

The Weather Channel Web site has daily air quality reports - you can click on them to see today's air quality forecast for your state.