The North Central District Health Department(NCDHD) has teamed up with the Lower Niobrara NRD to launch the Purple Air Monitor within our district. Amy Latzel the Environmental Health Coordinator for NCDHD headed the project bringing air quality monitors to our area. Purple Air Monitors have been recently installed at NCDHD in O’Neill, the Lower Niobrara NRD in Butte, and Ainsworth Public School in Ainsworth.
The Purple Air Monitors detect, monitor and report on specific air pollutants like particulate matter (PM) or carbon dioxide and/or environmental factors such as temperature and humidity. Air quality can be reported in various ways representing different pollutants. The US EPA PM2.5 air quality index is derived from different emission sources having different chemical composition. Particles which are directly emitted into the atmosphere can originate from both natural sources, such as dust storms, and forest fires, and anthropogenic sources such as emissions from combustion of gasoline, oil, diesel fuel, biomass burning, organic compounds. US EPA PM10 air quality index is derived smoke, dirt, dust emitted from unpaved roads, pollen, and mold.
You can view current air quality at lnnrd.org. Under Purple Air Monitor there are links as follows Air Quality (US EPA PM 2.5), Pollen Counts (US EPA PM10) , Temperature, and Humidity.
