The Technical Services Division is responsible for collecting air quality information pursuant to the regulatory, health, and informational needs of the District, industry, and the public. The Division has five sections and a technical reference library. The Division's Air Monitoring Section maintains a permanent network of Air Quality monitoring stations to measure ambient air quality and general population exposure to air pollutants for scientific and regulatory purposes. The Meteorology and Data Analysis (MDA) Section maintains a network of meteorological monitoring sites throughout the district. District air quality and meteorological information along with National Weather Service forecast data are used to generate daily air quality and open burn forecasts. The Source Test Section measures pollution emissions from stationary sources and facilities such as refineries and power plants to insure that industry pollutant measurements are accurate and emissions comply with permit regulations. Vapor recovery equipment at gas stations and bulk transfer facilities is evaluated to reduce hydrocarbon pollutant emissions. The Division also conducts mobile air quality monitoring in response to accidental pollution releases.

In support of air quality monitoring and enforcement activities at the District, the Technical Division Services includes an analysis Laboratory and a Technical Reference Library at the District office in San Francisco. Air samples collected by Technical and Enforcement Division field staff are brought to the lab for analysis using equipment and procedures not available in the field. A copy of all District publications, as well as publications from the greater air quality community, are maintained in the reference library for District and public access. Many District publications are also available on-line through this web site.

The Division includes an independent Quality Assurance section responsible for auditing Air Monitoring operations. This group maintains separate, certified measurement equipment standards in accordance with Federal and State regulations to audit Air Monitoring equipment and insure District air quality measurements are accurate and precise. The Quality Assurance section also conducts audits on air monitoring equipment operated within District boundaries by independent contractors for regulatory purposes or for other public agencies.

In conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the California Air Resources Board (CARB), local universities, and other local air monitoring districts, the Division participates in other national, state, and local scientific studies monitoring air quality. Recent studies in the past several years are:

The San Jose Central Air Monitoring Station is part of the EPA's national Toxic Trends Network designed to evaluate long-term toxic environmental pollution trends.

The California Ambient Dioxin Air Monitoring Program (CADAMP) is a rigorous, two-year study on dioxin levels in the Bay Area air basin and in Southern California managed by CARB. BAAQMD staff provides the local support for CADAMP sampling at our Crockett, Oakland, San Jose, Livermore, and Richmond. The District also operates a sixth sampling site in San Francisco on the same sampling schedule as the CADAMP sites.