Reading US wildfire smoke and air-quality maps

Choose the layer that answers your question

The AirNow Fire and Smoke Map brings particle-pollution information and fire context together. Its PM2.5 layer concerns fine particles, an important component of wildfire smoke. A fire symbol answers where a fire was reported or detected; a pollution observation answers what an instrument measured at a location. Neither substitutes for the other. Start by deciding whether you need a fire location, a smoke overview or the current local air-quality report.

For example, a reader comparing an Oregon fire with air quality in Washington should not draw a circle around the fire and label everything inside it equally polluted. Select the relevant community on the official map, inspect the available readings and keep their measurement times beside the fire information. A satellite image can help explain the regional picture without establishing the concentration at street level.

Read the monitor, not just its colour

AirNow's wildfire map guidance describes permanent monitors, temporary monitors and sensor information. These are different data sources. Read the selected point's details, source and time before comparing it with another point. A dense cluster of sensors does not make every location between them an independently measured location. Likewise, a blank area means information is missing from that view, not that the air there has been tested and found clear.

Use the official map instructions when switching between its products. The Fire and Smoke Map focuses on particle pollution; other pollutants can also matter to the overall local air-quality report. Avoid presenting a single smoke-related value as a complete account of every pollutant. AirNow and local public-health authorities provide the relevant health guidance; this page explains the display rather than offering personal medical advice.

Compare maps without inventing a disagreement

The PocketWorld wildfire map supplies source-labelled thermal detections. Those points are not air-quality monitors and do not trace a smoke cloud. Our disaster explorer's available air-quality records are also not a replacement for AirNow's complete local monitoring network. Check the provider and coverage of each record rather than assuming that both sites display the same dataset.

For a useful comparison, keep four details together: the location, product name, observation time and units or index. Separate the time a web page was retrieved from the time its data was measured. When sharing a screenshot, include its legend and link back to the selected official source. This preserves what the map actually showed instead of turning an attractive colour overlay into an unsupported claim about an entire city.