Analyzing, Interpreting and Communicating about Environmental Data

The purpose of this assignment is to give you some experience analyzing, interpreting and communicating about environmental data.

The spreadsheet contains daily PM2.5 readings from three monitoring sites in Salt Lake County. Each site’s data are found in a separate worksheet. I have created variables for the month (1-12), day (1-31) and day of week (1-7, 1=Sunday).

1. For each site, create a graph showing a time series for PM2.5 values for each day. Have them on separate graphs or you won’t be able to see a thing.
2. Create ONE table that compares the monthly mean, min, max, std dev of the PM2.5 measurements, as well as the number of days where the PM2.5 measurement was >=30. Include separate results for each of the 3 sites, as well as for all three sites combined (all on one table). Please include the mean, min, max, and std dev for the entire year as well.
3. Create a graph comparing the monthly means for one site.
4. Create a graph showing the relationship between PM2.5 and the AQI for one of the sites.
5. Create a graph showing the relationship between PM2.5 at site 1 and site 3.
6. Write a short explanation of these results, one paragraph per table/figure (3 – 6 sentences). Include a description of the result and reason(s) for the observed patterns. Write on the same level and style as public-oriented documents, such as government educational materials. Refer to the Tables and Figures appropriately.

The graphs and table should be as clear as possible so the reader can understand everything about the graph without and other information. Please have the tables, graphs and narrative in a single word document. Please paste figures as pictures, not linked to the original spreadsheet.

Please note that all formatting requirements described in the syllabus need to be followed. Each graph needs to have a title, starting with “Figure x” where x is the number of the figure. Make them as pretty as possible, but don’t sweat making them perfect. Tables should be labeled “Table x. …….”. Each Figure and Table should be ‘stand-alone’, meaning that a reader should be able to understand and interpret the table of figure without referring to any text.

Submit: Word Doc using Times New Roman, 12pt, double spaced. Use APA style citations.