Monitoring Air Quality

View real-time air quality data in Butte County for the following cities:

Weather + Emissions = Pollutants
Weather combines with the emissions released into the air to produce pollutant concentrations. These airborne pollutant concentrations are measured at more than 250 air quality monitoring sites in California.

The Air Resources Board (ARB) operates a statewide network of monitors. Data from this network is supplemented with data collected by local air districts, other public agencies, and private contractors. Currently, the ARB monitors ambient concentrations of toxic air contaminants at 18 of these sites. Each year, over ten million air quality measurements from these sites are collected and stored in a comprehensive air quality database maintained by the ARB. To ensure the integrity of the data, the ARB routinely conducts audits and reviews of the monitoring instruments and the resulting data.

Monitoring in Butte County
In Butte County the two pollutants of most concern are fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and Ozone (O3). PM2.5 is a common wintertime pollutant and Ozone a summertime pollutant.

The Chico air monitoring site is located near State Highway 99 within a commercial and residential area on Manzanita Avenue. The site monitors the following pollutants: meteorology, ozone, PM10, PM2.5, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and air toxins.

The ARB installed an ozone air monitoring station located at the Paradise Airport (pictured left) in May 2000. The data was initially used as part of the California Transport Study. The study is tracking air pollution from the Bay Area and Sacramento metropolitan areas into the northern Sacramento Valley. The elevation of the station is 1250 feet above sea level and approximates that of the air monitoring station on the Sutter Buttes. The Sutter Buttes and Paradise monitors show overwhelming contributions of upwind emission (ozone transport) to downwind ozone concentrations.

The ARB installed a PM10 monitor in downtown Paradise in 2001.The monitor was installed at the request of the Town of Paradise to help monitor the new residential burn program. In 2008 a PM2.5 continuous (realtime data) monitor was installed. The PM2.5 monitor may be accessed by the public using the Today's Air Quality link above or the ARB website link below.

A PM2.5 continuous monitor has been in operation in Gridley on Cowee Avenue since 2001.

Air Quality monitoring data from the Chico, Gridley and Paradise monitoring stations can be found in the Annual Air Quality Report listed below or on the ARB website. The ARB website can be used to find current or historical air quality data for Butte County, as well as any monitoring site in California. Go to the ARB Air Quality Website