Air quality data and reports

The Alberta Air Data Warehouse is where Alberta’s historical, quality-assured air quality and Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) data are stored. Albertans can download ambient air quality data and industrial emissions data. Additional data products will be available in the future as Air Data Warehouse development continues.

Ambient air quality monitoring stations are operated by area operators (including Alberta Airsheds, the Government of Alberta, and other partners) and industrial facilities. Continuous emissions monitoring is conducted by industrial facilities on large point sources (stacks).

The datasets included in the Warehouse have undergone quality control and quality assurance in accordance with the Alberta Air Monitoring Directive and Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) Code. There is a time lag between collection and posting of the data. Data is subject to change at any time when further reviewed, resubmitted or when the Warehouse is updated.

Administrative data (for example: station operators, emission source information, parameters collected, etc.) is stored in the Warehouse and some of this is accessible from the Alberta Air Data Information Map, however not all of this information is publicly available at this time.

References

• Air Monitoring Directive 
• Continuous Emission Monitoring System Code

Data flags are used as an indicator of data validity and to provide additional information about the data. Flags may be used to indicate data that are anomalous based on quality control and quality assurance or to explain why a measurement is missing. By default, the reports generated include only valid data as defined by the flags associated with the data point. There are also options to show all available data and associated flags in the report.

Reference information for ambient data, such as the definitions of the flags and which are associated with valid data, as well as other additional information can be found in the Ambient Data Reference Table.

Reference data for Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) data (for example definitions of data flags) can be found in the CEMS User Manual.

References

• Ambient Data Reference Table
• Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) User Manual

Air quality, deposition and emissions monitoring in Alberta is delivered through a distributed system, which includes industry, Airsheds and the provincial and federal governments. For more information about data collectors, review the references below.

References

• Continuous Emission Monitoring System Code
• Environmental monitoring

To submit data to the Alberta Air Data Warehouse, see:

• Air Monitoring Directive Chapter 9 Submissions

To submit CEMS data, see:

• Electronic Reporting of CEMS Information User Manual