This project gives special emphasis to the factors that affect the ability of government and other public health organizations to communicate scientific data to the public and the effect of these communications on the usability and usefulness of the information to stakeholders. While the quality, timeliness and accessibility of scientific information merit consideration in this review, two other major components of the communication process are also examined: the competence and strategies of the communicators, and the capabilities of the intended audiences to understand and derive value from the information as indicated by healthy or health-enhancing behaviors. We organize the analysis according to a public value framework that assesses the impact of AirNow public data along several dimensions including economic, social, strategic, quality of life, stewardship, and mission impacts.