Community-Based Air Quality Monitoring Framework

5.2 Data Analysis and Visualization

Once an air monitoring project has collected data, the next step is to analyze and present the information in ways that support the project’s purposes. The resources in this section provide tools and examples of analyses and visualizations of data that project personnel can use to process and synthesize the data they have collected.

Purpose: Identify the type of analyses you will create. Determine how these analyses and visualizations will address the fundamental purpose for monitoring

Resources:

• Analyzing Your Sensor Data: Showcases a wide range of approaches to analyzing air quality data, with visual examples addressing different monitoring questions (SCAQMD, guidance section, pages 98-103)
• Analyze and Interpret Data: A distilled version of SCAQMD ‘Analyzing Your Sensor Data’ that includes important questions to ask during data analysis. (EPA, guidance section, page 104)
• Communicating Results: Describes how to communicate about your project and results (EPA, guidance section, page 106)
• Interpreting Your Results: What Do the Sensor Readings Mean? A brief discussion on interpreting results and AQI (SCAQMD, guidance section, pages 103-105)
• Data Aggregation: Shows graphical examples of various data aggregation methods (EPA, guidance section, page 158)
• Can You Effectively Answer Your Research Question with the Data Collected? Decision tree to determine whether more measurements are needed to meet project objectives. (SCAQMD, worksheet, page 119)

Common challenges that these resources help address:

Project personnel may have difficulty determining which data analysis and visualization methods are necessary to communicate air quality monitoring results to agencies and to impacted communities. These resources can help project personnel align their data analysis with comparison to regulatory standards and align their data visualization with their intended audiences. These resources can help project managers determine what skills are necessary in hired personnel to effectively analyze and communicate air quality monitoring results.