Development of CleanAIRE North Carolina’s AirKeeper Dashboard

CleanAIRE NC is a nonprofit organization committed to fostering collaborative solutions that address air pollution across North Carolina. In 2022, CleanAIRE NC was awarded a grant from the inaugural Environmental Justice Data Fund to develop a comprehensive data dashboard for storing and visualizing PurpleAir sensor measurements collected from its statewide network of sensors. The following year, CleanAIRE NC partnered with ERG to design and build the dashboard. Since the dashboard was intended to support community advocacy, special emphasis was placed on ensuring that its design could accommodate complex air quality data while presenting information in a clear and accessible manner.

ERG supported engagement sessions with interested parties to gather and analyze requirements from a group of community scientists, known as AirKeepers, located throughout North Carolina. ERG then designed and developed the dashboard to equip AirKeepers with data, mapping tools, and reports to help them understand and communicate local air quality issues. Launched in June 2025, this tool serves as a resource for studying air quality impacts from multiple environmental stressors. At its core, the dashboard provides an interactive mapping tool that combines near real-time air quality data with contextual information including the location of pollution sources, demographic data, and health statistics. Data displayed on the dashboard are continuously updated using public data from PurpleAir, AirNow, and mapping layers from the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Division of Air Quality, local environmental agencies, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S. Census Bureau, and other sources. By highlighting underserved communities and health-sensitive populations alongside environmental permits and violations, the AirKeeper Dashboard helps uncover air quality disparities across North Carolina and provides tools to support advocacy. Current and historical air quality data can be downloaded for analysis or presented in dynamic, customizable reports that combine multiple data sources into visually compelling documents. Community members can use these documents to help advocate for cleaner air and healthier living conditions.