This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from United States statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from American statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other American-specific metadata information.
Indicator |
Annual mean levels of PM2.5 and PM10 in cities weighted by population |
---|---|
Organisation |
United States Environmental Protection Agency |
Unit of measure |
micrograms per cubic meter |
Data sources |
United States Environmental Protection Agency - https://www.epa.gov/air-trends/air-quality-cities-and-counties |
Data providers |
David Mintz |
Comment and limitations |
Note that a constant population (2010) was used. Note that the number of cities that have data can vary from year to year. |
Method of computation |
Steps for computing the indicator: 1. Retrieved monitor-level annual mean values from EPA’s Air Quality System. (These annual means are the average of the four calendar quarter averages. At least 11 24-hour observations in each calendar quarter is required for the annual mean to be valid. Otherwise it is invalid and not used.) 2. The highest annual mean among all monitors in each city (using Core Based Statistical Areas as defined by the United States Census Bureau) was computed to represent each city. 3. For each city, multiplied the maximum annual mean by the 2010 population. 4. Summed this population-weighted annual mean across all cities with data. 5. Divided this sum by the sum of all cities with data. 6. Resulting value is an average population-weighted concentration. |
Date of national source publication |
2024-07-31 |
Periodicity |
annual |
Date metadata updated |
2024-07-09 |
Time period |
2000 to most recent complete year of data. Ambient monitoring data for PM2.5 for a given calendar year is typically not available until May/June of the following year. |
Scheduled update by SDG team |
2018-09-30 |
Data last updated | Jul 19, 2024 |
Metadata last updated | Jul 19, 2024 |