Local air quality affects how we live and breathe.  Like the weather, it can change from day to day or even hour to hour.  The Quapaw Tribal Environmental Office and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are working together to make information about outdoor air quality as available to the public as information about the weather.  A key tool in this effort is the Air Quality Index.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your outdoor air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air.  More information on the AQI can be found at EPA's AQI Website. 


EPA calculates the AQI for five major air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act: ground-level ozone, particle pollution (also known as particulate matter), carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide.  The highest of the individual AQI values for the individual pollutants becomes the overall AQI value for that day.  More information on Air Quality and your health can be found in EPA's Air Quality Index Brochure.


The AQI tells you how clean the air is and whether it will affect your health. EPA and the Quapaw Tribal Environmental Office work together to report current and forecast conditions for ozone and particle pollution. Forecasts, health information, and maps showing real-time particle levels also are available on EPA's AIRNow Website.