SpeckSensor Air Quality App Tracks Annual "Dirty Days"

Byron SpiceFriday, September 2, 2016

SpeckSensor now allows users to see the number of "dirty days," when air quality has been unhealthy in a locale over the past year, and compare its with other cities across the nation.

A new feature for the SpeckSensor app enables users to see the number of "dirty days," when air quality has been unhealthy in a locale over the past year, and to compare that number with other cities across the nation.

The app, developed by the CREATE Lab of Carnegie Mellon University's Robotics Institute and Airviz spinoff, was launched last year. It allows users to get up-to-date Air Quality Index (AQI) numbers for their current location and for other locales of their choosing, enabling them to quickly see not only if the air they are breathing is healthy, but also how healthy it is relative to other sites.

Air quality is considered good within an AQI range of 0 to 50. Health concerns range from moderate for AQIs between 51 and 100, and very unhealthy for AQIs above 200. The SpeckSensor developers have opted to declare any reading above 50 a dirty day.

Android and iPhone versions of SpeckSensor can be downloaded from Google Play and the iTunes Store. The SpeckSensor app is supported by The Heinz Endowments as part of its Breathe Project, a coalition of residents, businesses and other groups that work together to improve air quality in southwestern Pennsylvania.

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Byron Spice | 412-268-9068 | bspice@cs.cmu.edu