Subject: AIRSData: hourly data no longer available on-line
As a researcher for a county government, I took advantage of easily accessible AIRSData in my quest to help characterize the nature and causes of air quality problems in our area. (The state and feds seemed only to be focusing on exceedances and violations of the NAAQS). As a result of EPA's re-engineering of AIRSData, hourly monitor data (ozone, NOx, meteorology, SO2 etc), that were once easily downloaded to my PC via the Internet are now only available through FOIA requests. An EPA official told me that they "do not plan to have the hourly data available on the Web with the re-engineered AQS."
Isn't this going the wrong way? Shouldn't the EPA make more data readily available to the public and not less?
Is there anyone else out there who is suffering my disappointment and frustration?
I've always looked to libraries for data and research information. I'm hoping this forum might be the right place to address this data (un)availability issue. I'd like to see hourly AIRSData back on-line. Can members of this dialog help make it possible?
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