Air Monitoring Section

What We Do

This section includes field monitoring operations, laboratory and data processing units.

The Air Monitoring Section operates ambient air quality sampling sites throughout West Virginia. The sampling sites are located to assess air quality levels based on population exposure, and industry emissions to determine compliance with the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), background levels, and other special purposes. Nearly all air quality monitoring equipment is located at permanent sites, in buildings or shelters designed for monitoring purposes.

The air pollutants and parameters monitored include:

  • Inhalable Particulate Matter (PM-10, PM2.5)
  • Ozone (O3)
  • Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
  • Speciated PM2.5
  • Air Toxic Pollutants (metals, carbonyls, VOCs)
  • Carbon Monoxide (CO)
  • Meteorology

The monitoring network is reviewed annually and revised as necessary to accommodate changing federal requirements. The data collected is used by the DAQ to implement programs to attain NAAQS for criteria pollutants. Air quality data collected by the air monitoring section is validated before being submitted to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Air Quality Subsystem (AQS) national database. After EPA also reviews the data, it is posted to the public site and is available for public use. Calenar-year data is certified each year by May 1st of the following year. Additionally, during ozone season (March 1 - October 31), data is submitted several times a day to EPA's AIRNOW Ozone Mapping Project where it is available on the Internet.

Air quality data collected at outdoor monitors across the United States, including in West Virginia, can be downloaded from https:/www.epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data

Contact WVDEP DAQ Air Monitoring Section

Renu Chakrabarty
West Virginia Department of Enevironmental Protection
Division of Air Quality: Air Monitoring
601 57th Street SE
Charleston, WV 25304
Phone: (304) 926-0475
Email: Renu.M.Chakrabarty@wv.gov

Monitoring Network: CY 2024

CountyPM10PM2.5COSO2O3METPM2.5 SpeciationAir Toxics
Berkeley 1  1   
Brooke12 2    
Cabell11
Greenbrier1
Hancock1111
Harrison1
Kanawha2111111
Marion
Berkeley1
Marshall11
Monongalia111
Ohio1111
Wood111
Total Sites213178122

Quick Links

  • Air Quality Index

    USEPA and the Division of Air Quality use this standardized system to provide the public with timely and easy-to-understand information on local air quality and whether air pollution levels pose a health concern.

  • Air Monitoring Data

    Air Quality data is collected and reviewed at the Division of Air Quality (DAQ)'s office in Charleston and at the Northern Panhandle Regional Office (NPRO) in Wheeling. EPA criteria pollutant data is analyzed, quality assured, and reported for approximately 18 sites across the state

  • 2023 Ambient Air Monitoring Network Plan

    The Annual Network Plan (ANP) provides information on each site within the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection Division of Air Quality's (DAQ's) ambient air quality network.


Laboratory

The laboratory, located in Guthrie, WV, analyzes PM2.5 filters from numerous sampling sites across the state to determine the amount of fine particulate matter in the air.