Air Trends
How to Interpret the Graphs
The blue band shows the distribution of air pollution levels among the trend sites, displaying the middle 80 percent. The white line represent the average among all the trend sites. Ninety percent of sites have concentrations below the top line, while ten percent of sites have concentrations below the bottom line.
For each pollutant, the trend statistic is directly related to the level and averaging time of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS). The following table lists the trend statistic used for each pollutant. For more information regarding the levels and averaging times for the NAAQS statistics, visit http://www.epa.gov/air/criteria.html.
Carbon Monoxide | Annual 2nd maximum 8-hour average |
Lead | Annual maximum 3-month average |
Nitrogen Dioxide | Annual 98th percentile of daily max 1-hour average |
Ozone | Annual 4th maximum of daily max 8-hour average |
PM10 | Annual 2nd maximum 24-hour average |
PM2.5 | Seasonally-weighted annual average |
Sulfur Dioxide | Annual 99th percentile of daily max 1-hour average |