Reflecting on 25 Years of Air Quality Monitoring – By and For the Community

Heartland Air Monitoring Partnership celebrates 25 years of providing trusted air quality data in Alberta’s Heartland this year. We started as a grassroots effort and grew to a multi-stakeholder regional monitoring network, with representation from industry, all levels of government, and the public. This collaboration enables us to accomplish goals that any one sector alone would have great difficulty doing.

We are passionate about providing air quality information to anyone who wants access to it, building up our education and outreach over the past 25 years through workshops, community events, a school program and social media presence.

Read more about the impact of community-led air monitoring here.

 

What Causes Higher Risk Air Quality Ratings in Winter?

Fortunately, air quality health ratings in the Heartland are low risk most of the time.

But there are two conditions that typically lead to the poorest air quality days in our region (and much of the prairies). One is wildfire smoke. And the other is a natural phenomenon called a temperature inversion – which tends to materialize when the Polar Vortex expands and sends a gush of cold air southward.

Learn how winter conditions impact air quality and what you can do to stay informed here.

 

Air Quality Remains Low Risk in Fourth Quarter of 2024 Despite Isolated High Risk Air Quality Events

From October through December 2024, Heartland Air Monitoring Partnership (HAMP) Airshed maintained predominantly low risk Air Quality Health Index (AQHI) hourly ratings, with only a few isolated high risk events mostly attributed to wintertime temperature inversions. In Q4, HAMP recorded 15,015 hours of air monitoring data for calculating the AQHI.

Read the full story here.

 

Assessing Longer-Term Air Quality Trends in the Heartland

We show how five key substances affect air quality in the Heartland Airshed over time and how those trends compare to other locations in Alberta, Canada and around the world.

Read the full story here.