Air Monitoring in Indiana

Monitoring particles and gases in ambient (outdoor) air and analyzing how weather affects pollutants is essential to understanding air quality and protecting the environment and human health. The Air Monitoring Branch oversees ambient air monitoring in Indiana, which includes collecting air quality and meteorological data using an extensive ambient air monitoring network, providing quality assurance, and maintaining IDEM’s air samplers and monitoring instruments. Everyone can view near-real time air quality data maps, summaries, and reports online.

IDEM uses air quality data for many important purposes, including air quality forecasting, determining if Indiana meets National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for criteria pollutants, air dispersion modeling , air toxics studies and IDEM’s ToxWatch monitoring program. IDEM’s SmogWatch provides daily air quality forecasts for ozone and fine particulates, and the Air Quality Index (AQI) rates air quality for five major pollutants and health impacts based on forecasts.

When air quality does not meet air quality standards, IDEM analyzes exceedance data to determine if exceptional events influenced monitoring data. A report called the States’ View of the Air provides an evaluation of ozone and fine particle pollution in all 50 states using a report card-style grading system.