People in Ann Arbor can look at an online map to see what the air quality is in their own neighborhood, or in a part of the city they are traveling to. They can also sign up to receive alerts when the air quality is at an unhealthy level.
The map shows variations in air quality at 10 monitoring stations throughout the city.
Sean Reynolds is senior analyst with the Ann Arbor Office of Sustainability and Innovations.
He said the closest federal monitoring station to Ann Arbor is in Ypsilanti.
"There have been times where I've been looking at the map and seeing that the one over in Ypsilanti and our three that are kind of north of the Huron River are showing actually better air quality than the ones that are south of the river here in Ann Arbor," he said.
Reynolds says idling trucks or construction zones, wind movement, or heat trapped in the downtown by concrete and buildings can all affect local air quality.
Ann Arbor is leasing its monitors from Clarity, an air sensing technology and data analytics company.
Residents can sign up to receive alerts when air quality has reached an unhealthy level.
