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Station overview—Emerald

Location of Emerald

Map marker is indicative only. It does not reflect the exact location of the station.
See all stations in Central Queensland region.

Established in February 2020, the Emerald station measures particle levels to assess the impact of agriculture and coal mining operations in the Emerald community and surrounding area

Monitoring period
19 February 2020–
Parameters monitored

Current measurements at 2am 4 November 2024

Air quality
ParameterMeasurementRunning average
Particle PM2.56.2µg/m³7.4µg/m³ (24hr avg)
Particle PM1017.7µg/m³18.1µg/m³ (24hr avg)
Meteorological
ParameterMeasurement
Wind direction41deg
Wind speed1.1m/s
Humidity65.2%
Temperature21.4°C
Rainfall0mm

Legend to air quality category colours about category values

  • Good
  • Fair
  • Poor
  • Very poor
  • Extremely poor

None of the data is validated (0% validated, 0/7 records)

About air quality categories

Air quality categories are used to make it easier to interpret air quality data by reducing the complexity associated with different pollutant concentration units and air quality guideline values.

Each air quality measurement from a monitoring station is assigned an air quality category rating based on comparison of the measurement value against the relevant air quality guideline. Five colour-coded air quality categories are used, being ‘Good’ (green), ‘Fair’ (yellow), ‘Poor’ (orange), ‘Very poor’ (red) or ‘Extremely poor’ (dark red). Values greater than the air quality guideline will be appear as ‘Poor’, ‘Very poor’ or ‘Extremely poor’.

More information about air quality categories.

About these parameters

Particle PM2.5

Airborne particles less than 2.5 micrometres in diameter, referred to as PM2.5, can be hazardous to human health or cause a nuisance when present in the air at elevated levels. They are capable of penetrating the lower airways of humans and can cause possible negative health effects.

The guideline for Particle PM2.5 is 50µg/m³ (1hr avg) and 25µg/m³ (24hr avg).

Particle PM2.5 is measured in micrograms per cubic metre.

More information about Particle PM2.5

Particle PM10

Airborne particles less than 10 micrometres in diameter, referred to as PM10, can be hazardous to human health or cause a nuisance when present in the air at elevated levels. They are capable of penetrating the lower airways of humans and can cause possible negative health effects.

The guideline for Particle PM10 is 100µg/m³ (1hr avg) and 50µg/m³ (24hr avg).

Particle PM10 is measured in micrograms per cubic metre.

More information about Particle PM10

Wind direction

When high pollutant concentrations occur at a monitoring station, wind data records can determine the general direction and area of the emissions. Identifying the sources means planning to reduce the impacts on air quality can take place. The measurement indicates the direction the wind is coming from.

Wind direction is measured in degrees.

More information about Wind direction

Wind speed

When high pollutant concentrations occur at a monitoring station, wind data records can determine the general direction and area of the emissions. Identifying the sources means planning to reduce the impacts on air quality can take place.

Wind speed is measured in metres per second.

More information about Wind speed

Humidity

Like temperature and solar radiation, water vapour plays an important role in many thermal and photochemical reactions in the atmosphere.

Humidity is measured in percentage.

More information about Humidity

Temperature

Measuring temperature supports air quality assessment, air quality modelling and forecasting activities.

Temperature is measured in degrees Celsius.

More information about Temperature

Rainfall

Rain has a ‘scavenging’ effect when it washes particulate matter out of the atmosphere and dissolves gaseous pollutants. Removing particles improves visibility. Where there is frequent high rainfall, air quality is generally better.

More information about Rainfall

Licence
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
Last updated
8 July 2024