Lifers Leaving a Legacy is an Oakland-based organization founded by Mr. Charles Reed building on principles of redemption, restoration, and service. Guided by the belief that lasting change comes from preparation and opportunity rather than chance, Lifers works to turn residents' own knowledge of their neighborhoods into informed action, treating community members as partners in science and solution-building rather than only recipients of it.
With support from California Climate Investments (CCI), Lifers is building a highly specialized air quality monitoring network within Oakland. This network focuses on pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter but also samples toxic pollutants such as black carbon, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and metals. Together, this network goes well beyond typical community monitoring in an effort to more thoroughly understand air pollutants impacting the people of Oakland.
This work is a continuation of air quality monitoring done by Lifers in 2025. To download the data and the report associated with the 2025 campaign, see the links below.
The Air Quality Index (AQI) is the U.S. EPA's standard scale for translating pollutant concentrations into a single number to communicate about outdoor air quality and health. It runs from 0 to 500 and is split into six color-coded categories, from Good to Hazardous. The higher the AQI value, the greater the level of air pollution and health concern. For example, an AQI value of 50 or below represents good air quality, while an AQI value over 300 represents hazardous air quality. The AQI is calculated for specific pollutants (but not all pollutants) including PM₂.₅, PM₁₀, NO₂, CO, and Ozone.
Each of the six AQI categories has a specific color to make it easy for people to quickly determine whether the air quality is good or reaching unhealthy levels.
Read more at: https://www.airnow.gov/aqi/aqi-basics/
The Map's default view shows "Overall AQI", which is a combination of AQI from five different pollutants to provide a single value. PM₂.₅, PM₁₀, NO₂, CO, and Ozone values are used to calculate the Overall AQI, but each pollutant can also be viewed on their own in the Map.
The concentration ranges of each pollutant differ for each AQI category. The various concentration ranges for each AQI category are shown in the table below. Where a location has readings for more than one pollutant, its overall AQI is whichever pollutant is highest at that time, not an average across pollutants.
Some pollutants shown here use NowCast instead of a plain instantaneous AQI. NowCast is an EPA method that turns the last several hours of readings into a single number, weighting the most recent hours more heavily than older ones. That makes it react almost as quickly as a plain instantaneous reading when conditions are changing fast (for example, during a wildfire smoke event), while smoothing out brief single-hour spikes that a plain instantaneous AQI would show. PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ use NowCast here; NO₂/NOₓ, CO, and ozone instead use a plain instantaneous AQI, computed directly from that hour's readings.
Source: EPA, Technical Assistance Document for the Reporting of Daily Air Quality – the Air Quality Index (AQI) . NOₓ has no official EPA AQI and is shown here using the NO₂ scale. Ozone is evaluated against its 8-hour breakpoints using our 1-hour sensor readings as an approximation. PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀'s AQI is NowCast-based (a 12-hour weighted average that responds quickly to changing conditions), not a plain instantaneous reading, matching AirNow's own real-time reporting convention; NOₓ, CO, and ozone stay instantaneous. BC (black carbon) has no official EPA AQI at all and does not appear in this table. See the Map tab's legend for its separate concentration-bin scale.
Lifers' network includes several different kinds of instruments to measure a wide range of pollutants.
More information: Clarity Node-S and add-on modules
More information: C-12 datasheet (PDF)
More information: Nutech SUMMA canisters and Method TO-15
This dashboard reads and displays the newest data every 10 minutes for real-time pollutants and as soon as lab data is available for the air toxics. For real-time data, this dashboard time stamps the data at the end of the collection period. For example, data collected between 6:00 pm and 6:59 pm gets a label of 7:00 pm for consistency with AirNow's Fire and Smoke Map as well as AQI convention.
Wind speed and direction are measured at all five Lifers sites, but the Real-Time Map shows only 105th Ave, for simplicity. The wind box in the lower-left corner of the map shows an arrow pointing in the direction the wind is blowing toward (not the direction it's coming from), and the arrow's length grows with wind speed in mph. For winds below about 1 mph (calm conditions), it shows a calm note instead of an arrow. Wind information for every site can be viewed on the Advanced tab.
This project is part of California Climate Investments, which uses billions of Cap-and-Invest dollars to fund projects that reduce harmful emissions, protect public health, strengthen local economies, and support natural environments. With a strong focus on communities most impacted by pollution and limited access to resources, California Climate Investments helps build a more equitable and sustainable future.
Partners proudly supporting Lifers on this important project:
Impact icons on the Air Toxics tab: OpenMoji – the open-source emoji and icon project. License: CC BY-SA 4.0.
