Month: July 2022

Fort Air Partnership (FAP), the organization that monitors the air local residents breathe, released 2022 second quarter Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) results today. The Government of Alberta calculates the AQHI using data collected at seven of FAP’s air monitoring stations.

Results show that AQHI in the Airshed was of low risk to health at least 98% of the time for April, May, and June. There were zero hours of high or very high AQHI rating for the calendar quarter. Risk to health increases as the index level rises.

Hours with a High or Very High Risk AQHI Rating

Comparison to 2022 Q2 Results 

In comparing results from the 2022 second quarter to the 2021 second quarter, there were less moderate risk level hours in 2022 than in 2021 (102 in 2022 compared to 153 in 2021). There was only one hour of high AQHI rating for the second quarter in 2021 compared to zero in 2022.

Summary of Exceedances

Air quality measurements are compared continuously to both one and 24-hour Alberta Ambient Air Quality Objectives (AAAQO). Any exceedance of an AAAQO is reported to the Alberta Government and the likely cause of the exceedance investigated. The following table details what substances exceeded an AAAQO, when they occurred and if it can be determined, the likely cause.

For further details: 2022 Q2 Air Monitoring Results

Notifications for AQHI information are now available through the WeatherCAN App, as the AQHI Canada application has been disabled and is no longer supported. The WeatherCAN app also offers general weather information, Weather Alert notifications, Special Air Quality Statements, and more.

Accessing AQHI information through the WeatherCan app

• Download the WeatherCAN application to your smartphone using the App Store for Apple users or Google Play for Android users.
• The WeatherCAN app will automatically set your current location as the primary location, you can click on the location name at the top to open up a search bar for additional AQHI locations.
• Once in the WeatherCAN app, click the down arrow under the line titled Sunrise-Sunset.  An option for Air Quality will appear showing the current AQHI rating for your selected location.  
• Click on the arrow to the left to access further details, as well as forecasted AQHI ratings.

Receiving AQHI Notifications via the WeatherCAN app

• Download the WeatherCAN application to your smartphone using the App Store for Apple users or Google Play for Android users.
• Once in the WeatherCAN app, click the menu in the top left-hand corner.
• Click Notifications and then click AQHI.
• Once in the AQHI area, you can choose Current Location or All Locations, as well as the rating level you would like to be notified at.

More areas for AQHI Information

Alberta’s AQHI system remains active, sending data in real-time to Alberta Environment and Parks (AEP). Fort Air Partnership (FAP) uses seven air monitoring stations that provide the necessary data for AEP to calculate an AHQI for those locations. The AQHI ratings and forecasted ratings continue to be available on FAP’s Website Homepage and the Alberta AQHI Map webpage. FAP continues public reporting of all of the data collected on our Live Data Site.