The Science Behind PEIR

Where you’ve been and how you got there says a lot about both your environmental impacts as well as your exposure to “hazardous” conditions. For this reason, our PEIR analysis starts with your location “trace,” a sequence of points collected by a GPS device you carry with you. For each trip you take, we link your location trace with data we collect about thousands of neighborhoods in California, data that include the current weather conditions and estimated traffic patterns on local roads and freeways. All of this information is then analyzed with published scientific models that produce estimates of your exposure and impact in four categories:

  1. Particulate exposure (PM2.5).
  2. Fast food exposure.
  3. Carbon impact.
  4. Particulate (PM2.5) impact on sensitive sites.

Why these four? The PEIR team felt that these captured a range of interests related to both public health and environmental responsibility. Our hope is that they start a conversation about the choices we make each day. Over time and with community input, this list will certainly grow, as will the tools we provide to analyze and share data.

Visit the System Components page to learn more about the different parts of PEIR and how they work together to generate their estimates. To read about the four models and their scientific bases, see Impact / Exposure.

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PEIR has been designed for people who want to be more conscious of their personal impact and exposure on the environment. Currently, PEIR is private beta, but if you'd like to be notified when PEIR is open for new user registration, please sign up for e-mail alerts. We'll never spam. Promise.