The Palliser Airshed Society (PAS) was established in the Spring of 2003. Their mandate is to monitor ambient air quality in the Medicine Hat and Redcliff region. They have recently expanded to cover the southeastern portion of the province, including Hanna.
There are 10 Airsheds in Alberta providing air quality monitoring. These airsheds collect data to calculate the Air Quality Health Index (AQHI), a real-time air quality rating. The AQHI represents the relative risk of a combination of air pollutants known to harm human health including ozone, fine particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide. In 2022, all Alberta continuous monitoring stations saw AQHI ratings in the low-risk range 88% to 99.5% of the time (low risk is 1-3 on the AQHI rating scale). The provincial average AQHI rating was 2.2 on the 10-point scale. (with 1 representing the lowest risk and 10 the highest).
The following video helps to explain Airsheds and what they do.
Hanna is included in the Palliser Airshed Region. Other communities in the Palliser Airshed Society Region hosting sensors include: Acadia Valley, Bassano, Bow Island, Brooks, Consort, Duchess, Empress, Medicine Hat x2, Milk River, Oyen, Redcliff, Vauxhall, Warner and Cypress Hills Provincial Park.
PurpleAir sensors measure airborne particulate matter such as dust, smoke and tiny bits of other materials. A PurpleAir sensor has been installed within Town limits and can be viewed live via PurpleAir’s Real Time Air Quality Map.
This is a still of the air quality map from PurpleAir’s website.
