Smoke Sense Study Frequently Asked Questions
On this page:
About the app
- What is Smoke Sense?
- What information is available on the Smoke Sense app?
- What is the "What Can I Do?" module in the app?
- What upgrades or changes are in the 2018 app?
- How do I get the Smoke Sense app?
- How do I change the language in the app to Spanish?
- I have an Apple XS phone and the graphics are distorted. What is happening?
- I used the app in 2017. Do I need to reinstall it to get the update?
- Why am I not getting weekly reminders to log my symptoms?
- Where does EPA get the air quality and wildland fire data shown in the app?
- What geographic region does Smoke Sense represent?
- I am having trouble with the app, what can I do?
About the Data Visualization Tool
- How do I navigate the Smoke Sense Data Visualization Tool?
- How do I export the data?
- How often is the data updated?
About the study
- Why is EPA conducting this study?
- Are there any results or findings from the 2017 pilot?
- Who can participate in the Smoke Sense Study?
- How can participants benefit from using the Smoke Sense App?
- What type of information is being collected?
- Where does the data collected from the app go?
- How is EPA using the data?
- Will personal information be taken or shared?
The Smoke Sense Project is a crowdsourcing, citizen science research project developed by EPA researchers whose primary objective is issue awareness and engagement and research questions related to:
- Understanding the extent to which exposure to wildland fire smoke affects health and productivity,
- Discovering what steps people are willing to take to reduce their exposure, and,
- Developing health risk communication strategies that improve public health on smoke days.
Smoke Sense is a research endeavor that relies on the use of an interactive mobile application by the public to collect information and user engagement. The project also serves as an educational tool and resource to increase awareness and encourage people to take steps to protect their health from smoke during a wildfire or prescribed burning of land. There is also a K-12 educational component of the project that is being developed for teachers to use in the classroom.
EPA launched the pilot study with the release of the Smoke Sense app in August 2017. The app has been updated and redeployed in August 2018. We expect that as new resources become available, Smoke Sense app will undergo additional changes.
Individuals can learn about current and future air quality, wildland fires and smoke health risks in their area by downloading and using the app. They can also report their health symptoms, and the range of actions they are able or willing to take to improve their health condition or lower their exposure. Users will also earn in-app rewards for participating.
What is the "What Can I Do?" module in the app?
The July 2020 update to the app added a new module located in the lower right quadrant of the app home screen called “What Can I Do?” which provides tips for participants about steps they can take to reduce their exposure and protect their health. The tips are organized into three sections and based on the Wildfire Smoke: A Guide for Public Health Officials. The three sections are: 1) Stay inside and keep the indoor air clean; 2) Take precautions when outside or traveling; and 3) Follow advice of public health and other officials. Each section is expandable/collapsible and when expanded contains additional tips related to the category.
Based on an evaluation of the pilot and feedback from users and interested groups, several updates have been made to improve the mobile app. These changes include user interface upgrades as well as added modules, which engage the user in learning about smoke exposure and thinking about their health. Updates that users can look forward to include:
- Current air quality dashboard will display concentrations of fine particulate matter and ozone with the time stamp of last measurement. Current research shows that both pollutants are affected by wildfires.
- Users will be able to access the most current information about individual fires.
- Users will be able to view maps of hourly forecasts of smoke and ozone across the continental US.
- Users will be able to learn about and test your knowledge of wildfire smoke exposure in the Smoke Smarts module.
- Upgraded graphics.
- Streamlined user tutorials and information buttons.
The app is available for Android and iOS devices and can be downloaded from the Smoke Sense Study webpage.
Smoke Sense will display in the native (default) language on your device. If you would like to change the language in the app, you need to go into your device settings and change the language on your device.
The new Apple phones required modified graphics, which we are working on. We aim to provide these graphics in the next update to the app. The app is still functional and the information provided is correct.
Smoke Sense app will update on your device in the same way all other apps do. If you have auto-update enabled, the app will update when the next version becomes available.
If you see 'No Data' on your dashboard (homescreen of the app), agencies in your area may be experiencing temporary lag in data reporting or they do not generate daily forecasts. To see what states have forecasts and learn more about the Air Quality Index (AQI), please visit AirNow.gov.
If a user wishes to receive a reminder every Monday to log the symptoms from the previous week, they must turn on their push notifications for this application.
The current and forecasted air quality data and the wildland fire data provided in the app are obtained from AirNow.gov, which is generated from partnerships with several federal agencies.
The app shows air quality and wildland fire information in the United States.
The app is a computer code that, in real-time, accesses a range of external databases, like the Air Quality Index. Because of the dynamic coding structure, sometimes there are bugs or errors in the code. If you are having trouble please let us know by emailing SmokeSense@epa.gov.
The graphics are interactive. Hover over the graphic with your mouse to view additional information. In the scatterplot, click and drag along the horizontal axis to zoom into a period of time. You can filter reports by one or more states and by week using the filter option in the first graphic, and all the following graphics will update with the selection. To clear your selections, choose the “Show All Data/Clear Filters” button in the top left menu of any graphic. Not all participants filled out all reports, so filtering may not produce results.
To export data, right-click on the graphic. Doing do will allow you to download the data as a spreadsheet.
Data used in these graphics provide near-real time visualizations that are updated every 6 hours and have not yet been examined for quality and consistency.
Current air pollution health risk communication strategies have solid footing in science and are widely used across communities to protect public health. These strategies include: outreach by EPA on air quality and the Air Quality Index; public health advisories; and educational campaigns. However, it is not known whether these strategies are specifically effective in protecting public health during wildland fire smoke episodes. Exposure to wildland fire smoke can be acute and unexpected, last hours to weeks, and affect communities that may not have a public health response plan to reduce the adverse impacts of smoke exposure.
EPA is advancing the science and technology required to understand the impacts of smoke on air quality and public health. Combining science and technology with mobile communication tools can improve delivery and timing of information to inform decision making and health protective behaviors.
We are still analyzing the data and plan to publish the findings from the pilot in 2018. Additional publications are planned after the second year of the study.
All individuals, above 18 years of age, who want to contribute to science can participate in the study by using the Smoke Sense app. This is a nationwide study and the app is publicly available on the Google Play Store for Android devices and on the App Store for iOS devices. Smoke Sense app user identities will be anonymous and non-identifiable.
The Smoke Sense app allows the user to log health symptoms weekly over the length of the study period. By logging these symptoms, users may get a better understanding of the impact that air quality and smoke has on their health.
The app provides air quality information obtained from EPA’s Air Quality Index, available on AirNow.gov. This information includes the current and forecasted air quality by zip code and a map showing current fires visible from satellite and smoke plumes, giving the user valuable information about their environment.
The app encourages engagement through Smoke Smarts Air Quality 101 modules about air quality, impacts of air pollution on health and ways to reduce those impacts.
We are learning how long individuals are exposed to wildland fire smoke and the health symptoms they experience. We are also collecting information on health protective behaviors people take in response to any exposures they report. Users can anonymously submit demographic and health information.
All data received from the app is stored on a secure server and is used exclusively for the Smoke Sense study. The app will not request or store any information on user identity. This study has been reviewed and approved by University of North Carolina Institutional Review Board and EPA’s Human Research Protocol Office at the National Health and Environmental Effect Research Laboratory, Office of Research and Development.
EPA researchers will use this data to better understand the impacts of wildland fire smoke on public health and to gain insight on improving health risk communication strategies. The findings from the study will be peer-reviewed for scientific publication and published on the EPA website. Individual data will not be released or published, only aggregate data in which all the data has been combined. Public health officials or others can request the data to inform decisions in their area.
The Smoke Sense app does not collect identifying information such as names, addresses, locations, email addresses, phone numbers, mobile device identifiers, etc. Individual data will not be released or published, only aggregate data in which all the data has been combined.
Contact for the study: SmokeSense@epa.gov.
For web-related questions, use the "Contact Us" link below.
Why am I not getting weekly reminders to log my symptoms?