Development and Operation of the U.S. EPA's AirNow System

Sonoma Technology was the prime contractor for the development, hosting, and operations of EPA’s AirNow program from 2002 to 2020. AirNow provides the public, media, decision makers, and application developers with easy access to real-time, national air quality information online and via web services. The program offers daily Air Quality Index (AQI) forecasts and real-time AQI conditions for over 500 cities across the United States, and provides users with educational materials about the many facets of the air we breathe.</p>

In addition to supporting and enhancing the program and its applications for nearly two decades, Sonoma Technology operated and hosted the year-round Data Management Center (DMC) as the hub for collecting, processing, and distributing AirNow data and information. The DMC supported the AirNow stakeholder and user community of over 10,000 people. We redesigned and reengineered the AirNow-Tech platform for data management, technical analysis, and visualization. We also operated the AirNow Application Programming Interface (API) and the real-time and forecast air quality email alerting system, <a href="/projects/4211">EnviroFlash.</a href></p>

We have helped AirNow expand both domestically and internationally to better manage local air quality needs around the world. Much of this progress has been made under the AirNow-International program. We helped launch the first <a href="/projects/4086">AirNow-International program</a href> in advance of the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, China, and have since implemented it in Kathmandu, Nepal, and Accra, Ghana.</p>

Since 2020, we have continued to support EPA in enhancing the AirNow program. We redesigned, developed, and launched the new public-facing and mobile-friendly <a href="https://www.airnow.gov/" target="_blank">AirNow.gov website</a href>, as well as the new <a href="/projects/4081">AirNow mobile app</a href>. Our integrated team of air quality scientists, software engineers, user interface designers, and EPA partners collaborated on the implementation of the website and the app, which provides a simple interface so users can quickly and easily check current and forecast air quality levels and fire and smoke information. The team continues to work with EPA to add new features and functionality to both platforms.</p>