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An air quality measurement station in Edinburgh, Scotland

Air quality is defined as a measure of the condition of air relative to the requirements of one or more biotic species or to any human need or purpose.^[1] Air quality indices (AQI) are numbers used by government agencies to characterize the quality of the air at a given location. As the AQI increases, an increasingly large percentage of the population is likely to experience increasingly severe adverse health effects. To compute the AQI requires an air pollutant concentration from a monitor or model. The function used to convert from air pollutant concentration to AQI varies by pollutant, and is different in different countries. Air quality index values are divided into ranges, and each range is assigned a descriptor and a color code. Standardized public health advisories are associated with each AQI range. An agency might also encourage members of the public to take public transportation or work from home when AQI levels are high.

Limitations of the AQI[link]

Signboard in Gulfton, Houston indicating an ozone watch

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Most air contaminants do not have an associated AQI. Many countries monitor ground-level ozone, particulates, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide and calculate air quality indices for these pollutants.

Causes of poor air quality[link]

The AQI can worsen (go up) due to lack of dilution of air emissions by fresh air. Stagnant air, often caused by an anticyclone or temperature inversion, or other lack of winds lets air pollution remain in a local area, leading to haze.^[2]

Indices by location[link]

Canada[link]

Air quality in Canada has been reported for many years with provincial Air Quality Indices (AQIs). Significantly, AQI values reflect air quality management objectives, which are based on the lowest achievable emissions rate, and not exclusively concern for human health. The Air Quality Health Index or (AQHI) is a scale designed to help understand the impact of air quality on health. It is a health protection tool used to make decisions to reduce short-term exposure to air pollution by adjusting activity levels during increased levels of air pollution. The Air Quality Health Index also provides advice on how to improve air quality by proposing behavioral change to reduce the environmental footprint. This index pays particular attention to people who are sensitive to air pollution. It provides them with advice on how to protect their health during air quality levels associated with low, moderate, high and very high health risks.

The Air Quality Health Index provides a number from 1 to 10+ to indicate the level of health risk associated with local air quality. On occasion, when the amount of air pollution is abnormally high, the number may exceed 10. The AQHI provides a local air quality current value as well as a local air quality maximums forecast for today, tonight, and tomorrow, and provides associated health advice.

^[3]

Hong Kong[link]

The Air Pollution Index (API) levels for Hong Kong are related to the measured concentrations of ambient respirable suspended particulate (RSP), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O₃) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) over a 24-hour period based on the potential health effects of air pollutants.

An API level at or below 100 means that the pollutant levels are in the satisfactory range over 24 hour period and pose no acute or immediate health effects. However, air pollution consistently at "High" levels (API of 51 to 100) in a year may mean that the annual Hong Kong "Air Quality Objectives" for protecting long-term health effects could be violated. Therefore, chronic health effects may be observed if one is persistently exposed to an API of 51 to 100 for a long time.

"Very High" levels (API in excess of 100) means that levels of one or more pollutant(s) is/are in the unhealthy range. The Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department provides advice to the public regarding precautionary actions to take for such levels.

Mainland China[link]

China's Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) is responsible for measuring the level of air pollution in China. As of 28 August 2008, MEP monitors daily pollution level in 86 of its major cities. The API level is based on the level of 5 atmospheric pollutants, namely sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), suspended particulates (PM₁₀), carbon monoxide (CO), and ozone (O₃) measured at the monitoring stations throughout each city.^[4]

API Mechanics
An individual score is assigned to the level of each pollutant and the final API is the highest of those 5 scores. The pollutants can be measured quite differently. SO₂, NO₂ and PM₁₀ concentration are measured as average per day. CO and O₃ are more harmful and are measured as average per hour. The final API value is calculated per day.

The scale for each pollutant is non-linear, as is the final API score. Thus an API of 100 does not mean twice the pollution of API at 50, nor does it mean twice as harmful. While an API of 50 from day 1 to 182 and API of 100 from day 183 to 365 does provide an annual average of 75, it does not mean the pollution is acceptable even if the benchmark of 100 is deemed safe. This is because the benchmark is a 24 hour target. The annual average must match against the annual target. It is entirely possible to have safe air every day of the year but still fail the annual pollution benchmark.^[4]

API and Health Implications (Daily Targets)^[4]

Mexico[link]

The air quality in Mexico is reported in IMECAs. The IMECA is calculated using the measurements of average times of the chemicals ozone (O₃), sulphur dioxide (SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon monoxide (CO) and particles lower than 10 micrometers (PM₁₀).

Singapore[link]

Singapore uses the Pollutant Standards Index to report on its air quality.^[5] The PSI chart below is grouped by index values and descriptors, according to the National Environment Agency.^[6]

South Korea[link]

The Ministry of Environment of South Korea uses the Comprehensice Air-quality Index (CAI) to describe the ambient air quality based on health risk of air pollution. The index aims to help the public easily understand air quality level and protect the health of people from air pollution. - The CAI has values of 0 through 500, which are divided into six categories. The higher the CAI value, the greater the level of air pollution. - Of values of the five air pollutants, the highest is the CAI value.

For more information on the CAI please go here http://www.airkorea.or.kr/airkorea/eng/

United Kingdom[link]

AEA Technology issue air quality forecasts for the UK on behalf of DEFRA wherein the level of pollution is described either as an index (ranging from 1 to 10) or as a banding (low, moderate, high or very high). These levels are based on the health effects of each pollutant.

The forecast is produced for a number of different pollutants and their typical health effects are shown in the following table.

Europe[link]

To present the air quality situation in European cities in a comparable and easily understandable way, all detailed measurements are transformed into a single relative figure: the Common Air Quality Index (or CAQI)^[7]. Three different indices have been developed by Citeair to enable the comparison of three different time scale:

• An hourly index

which describes the air quality today, based on hourly values and updated every hours,

• A daily index

which stands for the general air quality situation of yesterday, based on daily values and updated once a day,

• An annual index

which represents the city's general air quality conditions throughout the year and compare to European air quality norms. This index is based on the pollutants year average compare to annual limit values, and updated once a year.

However, the proposed indices and the supporting common web site www.airqualitynow.eu are designed to give a dynamic picture of the air quality situation in each city but not for compliance checking.

THE HOURLY AND DAILY COMMON INDICES

These indices have 5 levels using a scale from 0 (very low) to > 100 (very high), it is a relative measure of the amount of air pollution. They are based on 3 pollutants of major concern in Europe: PM10, NO2, O3 and will be able to take into account to 3 additional pollutants (CO, PM2.5 and SO2) where data are also available.

The calculation of the index is based on a review of a number of existing air quality indices, and it reflects EU alert threshold levels or daily limit values as much as possible. In order to make cities more comparable, independent of the nature of their monitoring network two situations are defined:

• Background, representing the general situation of the given agglomeration (based on urban background monitoring sites),
• Roadside, being representative of city streets with a lot of traffic, (based on roadside monitoring stations)

The indices values are updated hourly (for those cities that supply hourly data) and yesterdays daily indices are presented.

Common air quality index legend:

THE COMMON ANNUAL AIR QUALITY INDEX

The common annual air quality index provides a general overview of the air quality situation in a given city all the year through and regarding to the European norms.

It is also calculated both for background and traffic conditions but its principle of calculation is different from the hourly and daily indices. It is presented as a distance to a target index, this target being derived from the EU directives (annual air quality standards and objectives):

• If the index is higher than 1: for one or more pollutants the limit values are not met.
• If the index is below 1: on average the limit values are met.

The annual index is aimed at better taking into account long term exposure to air pollution based on distance to the target set by the EU annual norms, those norms being linked most of the time to recommendations and health protection set up by World Health Organisation.

United States[link]

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) uses the following AQI:

Air Quality Index (AQI) Values Levels of Health Concern Colors 0 to 50 Good Green 51 to 100 Moderate Yellow 101 to 150 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups Orange 151 to 200 Unhealthy Red 201 to 300 Very Unhealthy Purple 301 to 500 Hazardous Maroon

PM_2.5 24-Hour AQI Loop, Courtesy US EPA

The air quality index is a piecewise linear function of the pollutant concentration. At the boundary between AQI categories, there is a discontinuous jump of one AQI unit. To convert from concentration to AQI the equation:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): I = \frac {I_{high} -I_{low}}{ C_{high} -C_{low} }(C-C_{low}) +I_{low}

is used, where:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): I

=  the (Air Quality) index,

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C

=  the pollutant concentration,

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_{low}

= the concentration breakpoint that is ≤ Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C ,

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_{high}

= the concentration breakpoint that is ≥ Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C ,

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): I_{low}

= the index breakpoint corresponding to Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_{low} ,

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): I_{high}

= the index breakpoint corresponding to Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): C_{high} .

For breakpoints for different pollutants, see: http://www.epa.gov/airnow/aqi_tech_assistance.pdf.

For example, suppose a monitor records a 24-hour average fine particle (PM_2.5) concentration of 12.0 micrograms per cubic meter. EPA's table of breakpoints for PM_2.5 is:

The equation above results in an AQI of:

Failed to parse (Missing texvc executable; please see math/README to configure.): \frac{50 -0}{15.4 -0}(12.0-0) +0=39

, corresponding to air quality in the "Good" range.

If multiple pollutants are measured at a monitoring site, then the largest or "dominant" AQI value is reported for the location.

To convert an air pollutant concentration to an AQI, EPA has developed a calculator: http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqi.conc_aqi_calc.
To convert an air quality index to an air pollutant concentration, see: http://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqi.aqi_conc_calc.
Current ambient monitoring data and forecasts of air quality that are color-coded in terms of the air quality index are available at: http://www.airnow.gov/.

The Clean Air Act (USA) (1990) requires EPA to review its National Ambient Air Quality Standards every five years to reflect evolving health effects information. The Air Quality Index is adjusted periodically to reflect these changes.

Abbreviations in this article[link]

In the context of this article about air quality:

• ppbv=parts per billion by volume = a portion anomaly volume of pollutant gas per billion volumes of ambient air
• ppmv = parts per million by volume = volume of pollutant gas per million volumes of ambient air
• PM_2.5 = particulate matter smaller than 2.5 μm in aerodynamic diameter
• PM₁₀ = particulate matter smaller than 10 μm in aerodynamic diameter
• μg/m³ = micrograms per cubic metre of ambient air
• μm = micrometre

Air quality by country or region[link]

See also[link]

Air pollution Air Pollution Index Atmospheric dispersion modeling Barbecue Grilling Emission standard Radon mitigation

Environment portal European emission standards Haze Indoor air quality National Ambient Air Quality Standards - U.S. standards for EPA intervention Pollutant Standards Index Smog

References[link]

External links[link]

• CAQI in Europe- AirqualityNow website
• CAI at Airkorea.or.kr - website of South Korea Environmental Management Corp.
• AQI at airnow.gov - cross-agency U.S. Government site
• New Mexico Air Quality and API data - Example of how New Mexico Environment Department publishes their Air Quality and API data.
• AQI at Meteorological Service of Canada
• The UK Air Quality Archive
• The pollution index of the UK Met Office
• API at JAS (Malaysian Department of Environment)
• API at Hong Kong - Environmental Protection Department of the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
• San Francisco Bay Area Spare-the-Air - AQI explanation
• Malaysia Air Pollution Index
• AQI in Thailand provinces and in Bangkok
• The American Lung Association declares EPA standards fall short.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (May 2010)

The Basics
The Basics at the Oxford Art Factory, 2010
Background information
Origin	Melbourne, Australia
Genres	Rock
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Independent, Albert Records
Associated acts	Gotye, Down Hills Home, Dog With Wheels, Blood Red Bird
Website	The Basics Official Website
Members
Wally De Backer Kris Schroeder Tim Heath
Past members
Michael Hubbard
Notable instruments
Lead guitar, drums, bass guitar.

The Basics ( /ˈbæzɪtʃ/ BAZZ-ich) are a three-piece band from Melbourne, Australia, formed by Wally De Backer and Kris Schroeder in 2002. Their style has been described as anything from 'indie-pop' to 'rock'n'roll' to 'pop-rock', though their records show they span a wide range of genres, including reggae, ska, country, and electro-pop. They are "recognised as one of Australia's hardest-working bands".^[1]

With close to 1000 shows in their ten-year career, their live performances are well-known for their sense of humour and energy.^[2]

Formation[link]

The Basics were formed after Kris met Wally at a party in Melbourne.^[3] The event was to see off the young aspiring producer, who was about to depart for Los Angeles, and together with a number of musician friends, the two jammed on some blues-rock standards. Later that night, they bonded over a mutual love of The Beatles, 70s and 80s cartoon theme songs and old Sierra adventure games.

Initially, they played around Melbourne as an acoustic guitar/drums combo, starting at The Opposition in Frankston and the House of Fools in Footscray, where in late 2002 they met Michael Hubbard and later invited him to join them on electric guitar.^[4] Though lacking any real experience with the instrument, Kris willingly purchased his first bass guitar, and the trio was born. During this time, the group start performing songs with more complicated three-part harmony.

During late 2002 and early 2003, The Basics recorded and released an album called Get Back through MGM Distribution. They began what was to become regular tours of the East and West coasts of Australia.

2004-2005: Current lineup[link]

Tim Heath joined the group in June 2004, after Michael decided to pursue his solo career, which has included being one half of Down Hills Home.^[4] Tim was reportedly the only person to reply to an advertisement in Melbourne's Beat Magazine looking for a new guitarist. Tim apparently answered the advertisement - which said the applicant "must have a love of 50s and 60s rock'n'roll" - thinking that he would be meeting "a couple of old guys to play with on the weekends over some beers". They soon recorded For Girls Like You.

The Basics in 2005 continued to tour and play small festivals, and after releasing For Girls Like You through MGM Distribution, they departed for a national tour of Australia, which lasted for two months and took them to every Australian state and territory. Stuart Padbury, a young Melbourne sound engineer, joined them on much of this tour. On returning, the band began demonstrating songs for a new album.

2006-2009: Touring and soundtracks[link]

In 2006, The Basics began recording what was to become known as Stand Out/Fit In. Taking several months, it was not completed until the end of the year, despite intentions to have it released in June. Instead, they held a successful 'album preview', where each of the tracks was demonstrated in 'rough form' accompanied by a music video for each (produced by Melbourne photographic artist James Bryans). The band also talked about the origins of the songs. This event brought a lot of attention to the band for the idea's originality. They pre-released a radio single 'Just Hold On' from the album. The band were invited to play the hugely popular Homebake Festival in Sydney, where they received a great response, after being introduced onto the stage by a short stocky Asian guy with big calves ("one of the highlights" wrote The Daily Telegraph).

In 2007, the band departed on a tri-state residency which saw them play Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane every week for the month of April - a bold move which brought further attention to the band for its original idea.^[5] Riding on the wave of this tour, Schroeder, De Backer and Heath departed on their first overseas tour which saw them performing 26 shows around Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom.^[6] They also toured twice more up the East Coast, one of which was with popular Japanese band The Bawdies. Their song 'Rattle My Chain' was used in a series of commercials for Volvo Australia. The song 'Hey There!' featured in the British film The Bank Job - starring Jason Statham - and was used as the backing for a February 2007 short film directed by Tim Longhurst called The Rip. Their song 'Better' was featured in a surfing documentary about the invention of the shortboard in 1967.

In 2008, the band appeared on Australia's Channel 9 for Australia Day celebrations, performing two of their songs - 'Just Hold On' and 'Hey There!' - to an estimated audience of 2 million. Securing an Australian Government grant, they embarked on a two-month tour of Australia, specifically targeting "culturally underprivileged groups" in rural and regional schoolchildren and Indigenous communities. The programme had them holding masterclasses and performing alongside Indigenous groups in the remote Northern Territory and Queensland.^[7][8] Their initiative also had them raising money for the charity Lifeline^{[disambiguation needed ]}, their contribution to which was recognised with a plaque at the end of the tour. Season two of Californication starring David Duchovny featured their cover of the classic 'Have Love, Will Travel', most famously covered by 'The Sonics'.

In 2009, The Basics for the first time enjoyed the support of Australian radio network Triple J, which had reportedly snubbed the band's previous material.^[9] The singles 'With This Ship' and 'Like A Brother' were added to the station's playlist, and momentum carried The Basics overseas for a second tour of the United Kingdom and Norway, and also a series of shows in Dublin, Ireland. They were joined by the longtime front-of-house engineer Stuart Padbury, who had been mixing them since 2005. The band was often seen in the Grafton Street Mall in Dublin, busking to promote their concerts there. Their second show in Oslo, Norway, saw the band perform with Hot Tub, one of the members of the Norwegian boy band "Boyzvoice", in his first performance for several years. Season Eight of Scrubs featured the song 'Lookin' Over My Shoulder'.

Despite all this promise, the band's album Keep Your Friends Close - produced and part-recorded by Peter Cobbin at London's Abbey Road Studios - though enjoying many favourable reviews,^{[10][11][12][13]} failed to impress Richard Kingsmill, music director of Triple J. This effectively ended the band's apparent upward spiral and the resulting album launch tour was reportedly "trying".

2010: Hiatus and live album[link]

In 2010, following the band's fourth stint at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, and the recording of a yet-unreleased live album, an indefinite hiatus was announced on the band's websites. This was in part due to the impending release of a new album produced by Wally for his Gotye project, and also to reported tensions within the band following the previous year's disappointments.

However, this hiatus was soon broken with a two-month residency at the Northcote Social Club in Melbourne, which saw an apparent return to form.^[14] The band's EP "Wait For You" enjoys airplay on Triple J.^[15] The Basics also played a one-off show at Sydney's Oxford Art Factory.^[16]

On 20 August 2010, The Basics released their fourth LP /ðəˈbæzɪtʃ/, available free and exclusively from their website for digital download^[17]. The band had reportedly moved to expand their listenership through this free giveaway, though 300 "Deluxe" CD/vinyl versions have been printed. /ðəˈbæzɪtʃ/ was recorded at the Northcote Social Club on 6 February, "in front of a live studio audience", and like the previous record, was mixed by Peter Cobbin at Abbey Road Studios. Technically a self-titled album, the phonetics spell out the accurate pronunciation of the band’s name. Kris Schroeder: "For years we’ve worked at bringing our live energy into the studio and thus far it’s been a bit hit-and-miss. Our trick this time was to pull a switcheroo and bring the studio to us instead; the result is the best and closest to us we’ve sounded yet."

Melbourne thespian and Dog With Wheels bassist David Bramble - friends with Heath from university days - has occasionally joined the band on tour, playing keys, often while sporting a large moustache. Other guests have included Jake Mason (saxophone), also of Cookin' on 3 Burners and The Bamboos^{[disambiguation needed ]}, Gideon Brazil (saxophone, flute), Simon Imrei (guitar and vocals) and Monty MacKenzie (saxophone).

Covers have often made an appearance from various sources: to date, some of the bands covered have been Cream, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, The Police, Neil Young, Bob Dylan, New Kids on the Block, Richard Berry, Sonny Curtis and The Crickets, JJ Cale, Harry Nilsson, Bill Scott, Ryan Adams and The Coasters (via The Beatles for their cover of Three Cool Cats).

Members[link]

Current

• Wally De Backer - drums, vocals (2002-present)
• Kris Schroeder - bass, vocals (2002-present)
• Tim Heath - guitar, vocals (2004-present)

Former

• Michael Hubbard - guitar, vocals (2002-2004)

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Get Back (15 January 2004)
• Stand Out/Fit In (5 May 2007)
• Keep Your Friends Close (25 September 2009)
• /ðəˈbæzɪtʃ/ (20 August 2010)

EP[link]

• For Girls Like You (11 July 2005)
• Lookin' Over My Shoulder (10 February 2007)
• Like A Brother (5 June 2009)
• Wait For You (21 May 2010)

Singles[link]

• Call It Rhythm & Blues (20 August 2004)
• Just Hold On
• With This Ship (22 February 2009)

Upcoming projects[link]

The band is taking a three year hiatus, with an announced return to the stage together in early 2014. Wally De Backer launched Making Mirrors under his Gotye act in August 2011, Tim Heath will be touring and recording with Blood Red Bird, and Kris Schroeder recorded a solo EP titled, Patience in the Face of Control, before leaving Australia to work with the Red Cross in Kenya for a two year sabbatical.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Myspace Website