Ozone, when it occurs at ground level, presents a serious air quality problem in many parts of the United States. Ozone is a major ingredient of smog, and when inhaled-even at very low levels-it can cause a number of respiratory health effects. People who live in communities with high ozone levels can use timely and accurate information to make informed decisions about how to protect their health from ozone exposure and when to take actions to reduce local ozone levels. This handbook is designed to provide you with step-by-step instructions about how to provide this information to your community. It was developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) EMPACT program. EPA created EMPACT (Environmental Monitoring for Public Access and Community Tracking) in 1997, at President Clinton's direction. The program takes advantage of new technologies that make it possible to provide environmental information to the public in near real time. EMPACT is working with the 86 largest metropolitan areas of the country to help communities in these areas: Collect, manage, and distribute time-relevant environmental Information; Provide their residents with easy-to-understand information they can use in making informed, day-to-day decisions.

"EMPACT, Environmental Monitoring for Public Access & Community Tracking"--Cover. Shipping list no.: 2000-0122-P. "September 1999." "EPA/625/R-99/007."

1. Introduction -- 2. How to use this Handbook -- 3. Ozone Monitoring -- 3.1 Ozone Monitoring-An Overview -- 3.2 Siting Your Ozone Monitoring Network -- 3.3 Selecting Monitoring Equipment -- 3.4 Installing Monitoring Equipment -- 3.5 Calibrating Monitoring Equipment -- 3.6 Maintaining Your Monitoring Equipment and Ensuring Data Quality -- 3.7 Annual Network Review -- 4. Data Collection and Transfer for Ozone Mapping -- 4.1 Overview of the Automated Data Transfer System (ADTS) -- 4.2 Getting Ready to Use the ADTS for Data Collection and Transfer -- 4.3 Using the ADTS for Data Collection and Transfer -- 4.4 Operations at the Data Collections Center -- 5. Making Ozone Maps -- 5.1 Understanding MapGen's Capabilities -- 5.2 Getting Started -- 5.3 Generating and Managing Maps -- 5.4 Advanced Features -- 5.5 Technical Support -- 6. Communicating Information About Ozone and the Ozone Map -- 6.1 Creating an Outreach Plan for Ozone -- 6.2 Successful Ozone Outreach Programs -- 6.3 Guidelines for Presenting Information About Ozone to the Public -- Appendix A. Tips on Configuring the Automatic Data Transfer System -- Appendix B. Instructions for Installing and Configuring Software -- Appendix C. Automated Data Quality Checks.