Miami Sensor Network

Miami Air Quality Dashboard

Environmental Change Laboratory, FIU · FIU GIS Center

Connecting…

Real-time air quality and atmospheric chemistry from the FIU Miami sensor network

PurpleAir PM2.5 Tempest Weather Pandora Spectrometer
Exposure — Latest available

What is the air quality right now?

Latest available readings from PurpleAir PM sensors and the Tempest weather station, with stale-feed alerts when updates lag.

Sea breeze Humidity Rain washout Heat index
PurpleAir PM2.5 Tempest weather ~2 min cadence Local time EDT
Latest

Overall status

Waiting for data…

Air quality

PM2.5 — µg/m³
AQI —

Wind & Weather

WBGT — °C
Temperature — °C

Wind — mph
Recommendation

Connecting to sensor network…

Miami air context

Sea breeze, sun, rain, and humidity can shift pollution minute by minute.

How to use this section

  • PM2.5 is the latest particulate reading used for the air-quality status.
  • AQI translates PM2.5 into a public-health category; it is easier to compare across audiences than raw units.
  • WBGT and wind explain heat stress and dispersion context, not pollution by themselves.

Analyzing conditions…

Time Series

How are readings changing over time?

Switch views: Summary stacks PM2.5, wind, and NO₂ together; Chemistry dives into Pandora's long-term NO₂/O₃ record and vertical profile; Per Instrument shows every channel from one sensor.

Diurnal sea breeze Heat + ozone chemistry Rain pulses Satellite timing
PM · Weather · Chemistry Delayed Pandora L2 Selectable windows

Which tab should I use?

  • Summary compares PM2.5, wind speed, and delayed NO₂ context over the same time window.
  • Chemistry focuses on Pandora NO₂/O₃ column products and satellite reference timing.
  • Per Instrument shows the individual channels reported by one selected instrument.
⏱ Pandora NO₂ — Delayed data

PM2.5, Wind Speed & Atmospheric NO₂

This chart shows how particulate pollution, wind, and delayed NO₂ chemistry context changed over the selected time window.

Click the chart to add a note at that time · Notes sync with the list below

Loading time series…
PM2.5 (µg/m³) — real-time Wind Speed (mph) — real-time NO₂ VCD (mol/m²) — delayed

Method note: compare timing and co-movement across variables; line height is not directly comparable because units differ.

How to read this chart
  • PM2.5 is fine particulate matter measured by PurpleAir near the FIU site.
  • Wind speed comes from the Tempest weather station and gives meteorological context.
  • NO₂ VCD comes from Pandora and is delayed, so treat it as atmospheric chemistry context rather than minute-by-minute current conditions.
  • The variables use different units. Compare timing and patterns, not raw line height.

Similar timing can suggest a research question, but this chart alone does not prove a source or cause.

⏱ Delayed · hours–days

Long-term NO₂ and O₃ from the FIU Pandora spectrometer (Pandonia network). Charts below act like a compact data manual: time series, diurnal cycle by local hour, and vertical profile. The spectrometer points toward the sun for retrievals — that orientation is not the same as the wind rose under Drivers. Reference: Pandonia BLICK viewer (external).

🛰 Science background — how satellites (TROPOMI, TEMPO) relate to Pandora measurements here at FIU
🛰

TROPOMI — Polar-Orbit NO₂ (Sentinel-5P / ESA)

The Sentinel-5P/TROPOMI instrument is a low-Earth-orbit UV-visible spectrometer with daily global atmospheric composition observations, including NO₂ column products. In these charts, TROPOMI labels are timing references, not local ground-sensor data.

TROPOMI definition and source

TROPOMI provides NO₂ column products from orbit. Learn more from ESA/Copernicus Sentinel-5P NO₂ documentation.

🌎

TEMPO — Geostationary NO₂ (NASA)

TEMPO is NASA's geostationary air-quality instrument. It observes North America from a fixed orbital view and provides hourly daytime observations for products including NO₂. In these charts, TEMPO labels are satellite observation timing references.

TEMPO definition and source

TEMPO provides hourly daytime air-quality observations over Greater North America. Learn more from NASA Earthdata TEMPO documentation.

📡

Pandora Spectrometer — Instrument 256, FIU Miami

Pandora is a ground-based passive UV-visible spectrometer in the Pandonia Global Network. It provides delayed atmospheric trace-gas retrievals, including NO₂ tropospheric vertical column density and O₃ total vertical column density.

⏱ Delayed — not suitable for real-time assessment

Latest Pandora Retrieval

Most recent L2 retrieval for O₃ — follows the diurnal gas selector. Compare with BlickV for full multi-species detail.

Loading latest retrieval…

Total Column Time Series

This chart shows daily Pandora NO₂ or O₃ column amounts over weeks to years.

Loading Pandora history…

Daily mean VCD (mol/m²) Min–Max range
How to read this chart
  • X-axis: date.
  • Y-axis: vertical column density in mol/m².
  • Purple line: daily mean from available Pandora retrievals.
  • Shaded band: daily minimum-to-maximum range, not formal uncertainty.
  • NO₂ is shown as tropospheric VCD; O₃ is shown as total VCD based on the current project product mapping.

Use this for longer-term chemistry context, not minute-by-minute current conditions.

Scroll to zoom · drag to pan · double-click to reset · select "All data" to see history since Dec 2023

Diurnal Column Cycle

Hour-of-day pattern for Pandora vertical column products (mean ± variability over the selected window).

Aggregating diurnal data…

Mean column VCD per hour Individual retrievals ±1 std dev
How to read this chart
  • X-axis: hour of day in local Miami time (EDT).
  • Y-axis: mean vertical column density for the selected gas (mol/m²).
  • Gas selector: NO₂, O₃, HCHO, H₂O, or surface products — same metrics as the total-column time series above.
  • Faint purple points: each Pandora retrieval in the window (BlickV-style density).
  • Purple line: hourly mean over the selected aggregation window.
  • Shaded band: ±1 standard deviation around the hourly mean (not formal retrieval uncertainty).
  • TEMPO and TROPOMI: satellite timing reference markers, not Pandora observations.

Toggle Retrievals to hide scatter for a cleaner mean-only view. Surface and some species may have shorter history (PGN file end dates).

TROPOMI reference ≈ 13:30 EDT (17:30 UTC) · TEMPO daytime observation reference ≈ 12:00 EDT (16:00 UTC)

NO₂ Vertical Profile — Diurnal Heatmap

This chart shows how Pandora-derived NO₂ layer summaries vary by time of day and approximate altitude.

Building altitude profile…

NO₂ partial column (mol/m²) — low → high
How to read this chart
  • X-axis: hour of day in local Miami time.
  • Y-axis: approximate altitude in kilometers.
  • Colored area: one Pandora retrieval layer/hour summary, not a physical sensor at that altitude.
  • Color scale: NO₂ partial column amount for that layer/hour summary.
  • Blank area: no layer/hour summary is available in the selected aggregation.
  • TROPOMI reference column: satellite timing reference, not a vertical NO₂ measurement.

Use this curtain plot as atmospheric-structure context, not standalone proof of vertical transport or source height. If only one vertical slice is filled, the available retrievals are concentrated in that hour.

Color = mean NO₂ partial column for one retrieved layer during that hour of day (EDT). Blank areas = no available layer/hour summary. TROPOMI reference ≈ 13:30 EDT · TEMPO reference ≈ 12:00 EDT.

Instrument readings

All parameters for one instrument over the selected time window. Tempest shows every channel from WeatherFlow.

About instrument channels

Each instrument reports different variables at different cadences: PurpleAir focuses on particulate matter, Tempest reports weather channels, and Pandora reports delayed atmospheric chemistry columns. Missing data can reflect reporting cadence, latency, source availability, or filtering.

Drivers — Rain & Wind

What is driving pollution levels?

Rain can temporarily remove particulates from the air, and wind direction helps identify which air-flow patterns are associated with higher or lower PM2.5.

Miami air signal: sea breeze, convective rain, heat, humidity, and transported dust can all change PM2.5 over short windows.
Sea breeze transport Convective rain Saharan dust Heat + humidity
Rain event detection Wind-direction bins Association, not attribution
Rain → Wet Scavenging

Does rain clear the air?

Precipitation events with PM2.5 before and after — green delta means PM2.5 was lower after the rain window.

Loading precipitation data…

Click the chart to add a note at that time

Precipitation (mm) PM2.5 (µg/m³) Rain event window

Method note: lower PM2.5 after rain is consistent with wet scavenging, but wind shifts and sensor variability must also be checked.

How to read rain events
  • Blue bars show precipitation amount (mm) from the Tempest weather station (~1 minute updates).
  • Orange line shows PM2.5 (µg/m³) from PurpleAir during the same period.
  • Window sets how far back to search for rain events (6 hr–30 d). Longer windows help capture scattered storms.
  • Event windows mark periods where rain exceeded the detection threshold.
  • Compare PM2.5 before and after each event. Lower values after rain are consistent with wet scavenging but can also reflect wind shifts or timing of pollution sources.

Did rain reduce PM2.5?

Wet scavenging summary — for each detected rain event, was particulate matter lower in the hour after vs before?

Analysing rain events…
Wind → Pollutant Transport

Which winds bring pollution?

Bar length = frequency from that direction. Color = average PM2.5 from those winds.

Loading wind data…
PM2.5 scale: Low <12 Moderate Elevated High >55

Method note: wind roses support transport hypotheses; they do not identify a source by themselves.

How to read the wind rose
  • Window sets how many Tempest wind readings are included (1 hr–7 d). More readings usually make direction patterns more stable.
  • Direction is meteorological convention: where the wind came from (not where it is blowing toward).
  • Bar length = how often wind arrived from that compass point in this window.
  • Color = average PM2.5 (µg/m³) when winds blew from that direction.
  • This is not Pandora sun-tracking orientation (see Chemistry tab for column instruments).
  • Use for transport hypotheses only — direction alone does not identify a pollution source.

PM2.5 Over Time

Daily mean PurpleAir PM2.5 at FIU MMC — each point is one calendar day, not an hour-of-day average.

Loading daily PM2.5…

Daily mean PM2.5 (µg/m³)

For minute-by-minute PM2.5, use Time Series → Summary or Per Instrument → PurpleAir. Hour-of-day patterns are under Chemistry (Pandora diurnal).

For researchers

How to use these questions

These examples show analysis directions the dashboard can support. Treat them as starting points: each question still needs quality control, time-window selection, and supporting context before drawing scientific conclusions.