Ambient Air Monitoring Program


AMBIENT AIR MONITORING OPERATIONS 

Ambient air monitoring operations are the responsibility of the DEQ Air Planning and Assessment Division's Air Field Services Section. Air Field Services (AFS) maintains a statewide monitoring network made up of stationary ambient air monitoring stations. From these sites, analysis personnel collect direct measurements of air pollutant concentrations then analyze and interpret the data. The data collected is used to track trends in air quality and determine compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS).

Monitoring sites contain specialized instruments to measure concentrations of the pollutants ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, lead, and respirable particulate matter, in accordance with federal air monitoring requirements. The Air Field Services Section also measures concentrations of volatile organic compounds at selected sites throughout Louisiana.

The AFS section also reports daily Air Quality Forecasts and readings to the public in the following areas: Baton Rouge, Alexandria, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, New Orleans, Shreveport, and Thibodaux. DEQ provides this information to radio and television news and local newspapers, who report the air quality reading in a short statement included in the daily weather report, mainly during ozone season.  Hourly air quality readings and the daily Air Quality Forecast are also available on this web site.  

 

•	Two small metal buildings with a platform between them containing air monitoring equipment in a grassy parking lot, with a power line behind the buildings.
Capital Air Monitoring Site

Current Air Monitoring Data

Air monitoring data can be vewed in real time. The data is displayed based on pollutant type, current concentration, and location across the state and is updated every hour. 

An ArcGIS map of the state of Louisiana with air monitoring sites and regions denoted.
Click the image above to view an interactive map of the Louisiana ambient air monitoring sites and regions.

MAML

In addition to the stationary, ambient air monitoring sites, our department also has a Mobile Air Monitoring Lab (MAML). This is a "lab on wheels" that can be transported to different locations so that real-time air data can be collected in places that might not normally be monitored otherwise. The MAML can be deployed when an environmentally hazardous incident occurs, and a report is typically distributed to the public afterwards, documenting relevant results about the air quality.

The Mobile Air Monitoring lab vehicle, an RV with the DEQ logo and "Mobile Air Monitoring Lab" displayed on the side.
The Mobile Air Monitoring Lab (MAML) vehicles.

NATIONAL AMBIENT AIR QUALITY STANDARDS

 

Pollutant Primary / Secondary Averaging Time Level Form Attainment Status
Carbon Monoxide

Primary

8 - hour

1 - hour

9ppm

35 ppm

Not to be exceeded more than once per year Attainment
Lead Primary and Secondary Rolling 3 month average 0.15 µg/m3 Not to be exceeded Attainment

Nitrogen Dioxide

Primary

Primary and Secondary

1 - hour

Annual

100 ppb

53 ppb

98th percentile, averaged over 3 years

Annual Mean

Attainment
Ozone

Primary and Secondary

8 - hour

0.070 ppm

Annual fourth-highest daily maximum 8-hour concentration averaged over 3 years

Attainment

 

Particle Pollution PM2.5

Primary                       Secondary

 

Primary and Secondary

Annual

 

 

24-hour

9.0 µg/m3

12.0 µg/m3

 

35.0 µg/m3

Annual Mean averaged over three years

 

 

98th percentile, averaged over three years

Attainment
Particle Pollution PM10

Primary and Secondary

24 - hour

150 µg/m3

Not to be exceeded more than once per year on average over three years

Attainment

 

Sulfur Dioxide

Primary

 

Secondary

1 - hour

 

3 - hour

75 ppb

 

0.5 ppm

99th percentile of 1-hour daily maximum concentrations averaged over three years

 

Not to be exceeded more than once per year

Non-Attainment for St. Bernard Parish only
LDEQ Secretary Courtney J. Burdette
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