Virginia Beach air quality map

How much useful information about air quality is available from the air pollution map for Virginia Beach?

There is a lot of very useful information about air quality on the air pollution map for Virginia Beach. This page is easy to access from the main city page by clicking on the map icon, a new page will open with all relevant information about air quality.

Possibly the first thing to notice will be the overall background colour of the map. This is a direct indication of the current state of the air. At the start of 2023, the air quality was “Good” and this is shown by the green colour of the map. Colours range from pale green to dark maroon and get darker as the quality gets worse. A guide to the different meanings of the colours can be seen at the foot of the page. These colours are standard throughout the whole IQAir website.

There are usually several coloured discs over the city which represent the locations of the ground-level air monitoring stations. However, not all cities have such physical stations and, instead, rely on data collected from overhead satellite imagery. There are some discs seen above neighbouring Norfolk and Newport News. These discs display a number at the centre which is the United States Air Quality Index reading or US AQI for short. It is calculated by taking the measurements of up to six of the most prolific air pollutants found in city air. Most often these pollutants are both sizes of Particulate Matter (PM2.5 and PM10), ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and carbon monoxide. Once established, it is used as a metric when comparing air quality in different cities and is strongly endorsed by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Looking back to the main city page, it can be seen in the coloured banner at the top of the page that at the start of 2023, Virginia Beach was enjoying a period of “Good” quality air with a US AQI reading of just 5. The asterisk to the right of the figure denotes that the information is derived from satellite data, but the results are much the same. The main pollutant which was measured was PM2.5 with a recorded level of 1.1 µg/m³ which is well within the suggested target figure of 5 µg/m³, as recommended by the WHO.

Is there much more exciting information about air quality on the air pollution map for Virginia Beach?

There is a lot more valuable information about air quality on the air pollution map for Virginia Beach but the page needs to be viewed in full-screen mode to be sure to see all there is to offer. The full-screen icon can be found at the top right of the screen and, once selected, the screen will be available at maximum size.

When viewed in this way, four options will appear down the left-hand side of the screen which can all be turned on or off individually to see the effects they have on the map.

The first option reveals the locations of the closest air monitoring stations. These are not over Virginia Beach but can be interesting to explore further. This can be done by selecting the desired discs and clicking on it. This will encourage a new page to open which will be filled with lots of interesting information about air quality in that region.

The next option shows the location of any wildfires that might be burning in the area. At the start of 2023, there were no reports of any fires burning out of control. If fires are burning, then option four could be useful because it shows the wind speed and direction and could show where the ensuing smoke could blow.

Option three can be very dramatic because it changes the background colour of the map to reflect the current air quality. Because the air quality is “Good” currently, the map has taken on a green colour. If this strong colour is off-putting then the option can be deactivated and the colour will revert to standard colours seen on a map.

Across on the right-hand side of the screen can be seen the rest of the information which is shown in the form of a table. This shows the ranking of the seven most polluted cities across the globe. The topic can be explored further by checking out the full ranking section when a new page will open showing air pollution in all participating cities in the world.

Is the source of the polluted air shown on the air pollution map for Virginia Beach?

The source of the polluted air is not shown directly on the air quality map for Virginia Beach, however, it is proven that the two areas of concern are Particulate Matter and ozone. Ozone is created by the reaction of sunlight with vehicle emissions, gasoline fumes, solvent vapours, and power plant and industrial emissions. Particulate Matter is created by emissions from cars, buses, aeroplanes, lorries and trains and stationary sources such as power plants, oil refineries, industrial facilities and factories. Depending on the time of year, smoke from neighbouring states can add to the air pollution. Blazes on the West coast and from as far as Ontario contribute to the particulate matter problem.

Are areas of high pollution easy to find on the air quality map for Virginia Beach?

Areas of higher pollution can easily be seen by looking for the disc with the highest number and/or darkest colour. Because the data for Virginia Beach is from overhead satellites, individual areas are not identified as would happen with ground-level monitoring stations.

PM2.5 is always quoted on the air pollution map for Virginia Beach, but how dangerous is it?

Fine particulate matter is in the air in the state of aerosol and in the natural environment, but they pose the greatest danger precisely in big cities. There are more of them in the urban environment; in terms of chemical composition, the fine aerosol is much more toxic than in the wild. In different cities, the composition of PM2.5 aerosol is different, as well as the parameters of the particles that make up its composition.

Fine dust is an inhalable fraction. It enters the lungs, directly into the alveoli, in which gas exchange takes place between the lungs and blood vessels. During gas exchange, PM2.5 particles enter the bloodstream, which provokes the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases. Both the particles themselves and the substances sorbed on the surface of the particles act.