The Maricopa County air monitoring division maintains several ambient air monitoring networks within the borders of Maricopa County.
The purpose of the ambient air monitoring network is to sample air pollution in a variety of settings, assess the health and welfare effects, and assist in determining sources of air pollution. In general, six basic monitoring objectives and five measuring scales are used to determine the network design. Additional items such as availability of power, accessibility to site, security, geographic location, and fiscal and personnel resources are also used in determining feasibility of the network design.
Since it is physically and fiscally impossible to monitor the air in every location, representative samples must be obtained. These samples are determined by using the monitoring objectives and the spatial measurement scales. The network must be dynamic enough to maintain a current representative sample of the air quality. Air quality issues such as eight-hour ozone non-attainment boundaries and permits for new sources are diverse and controversial subjects for the citizens of Maricopa County. Since no policies can be made without quality data, the MCESD Air Monitoring Unit strives to provide the most reliable and relevant air monitoring data to the public.
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A fundamental purposes of this review is to provide the citizens of Maricopa County with relevant information, so that they may make better decisions about their lives. This information is used in a variety of ways. Most importantly it is used to determine the attainment status for parts of Maricopa County. Another purpose is to determine permit conditions of new industries. Mathematical models are created using the data to determine the effectiveness of control programs on pollution levels. Also, other models are created to determine the possible locations of new sites and help in pollution forecasts. |
