OpenAQ:

Opening Up Air Quality Data for the World

Christa Hasenkopf | christa@openaq.org
Joe Flasher | flasher@developmentseed.org
openaq.org | @open_aq

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
in Winter

Photo Credit: Lauren Knapp

Global Air Pollution Statistics

1 out of 8 deaths are due
to air pollution (WHO, 2014)
~90% in developing
countries (WHO, 2014)

Between 2010 and 2050:

34%

Increase in world
population

Lelieveld, et al., Nature, 2015

99%

Increase in deaths
due to air pollution

Smoke and Dust Levels

Often, the most polluted cities have little data.

New
Delhi
Beijing

Rio de Janeiro
Houston

Mexico City
LA
London

# of Air Pollution Papers

Based on 2011 AQ WHO Database

Smoke and Dust Levels

Often, the most polluted cities have little data.

New
Delhi

Top 10 Polluted Cities:

1. Ahwaz, Iran
6. Kermanshah, Iran
2. Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 7. Peshawar, Pakistan
3. Sanadaj, Iran
8. Gaborone, Bostwana
4. Ludhiana, India
9. Yasouj, Iran
5. Quetta, Pakistan
10. Kanpur, India

Beijing

Rio de Janeiro
Houston

Mexico City
LA
London

# of Air Pollution Papers

Based on 2011 AQ WHO Database

Risk of Mortality

Key Public Health Questions Remain

Lots of
Studies

Few Studies +
Proxy Data

(from
EU + US)

Air Pollution Levels

A simplistic adaptation from Burnett et al. (2014)

The Possibilities

Real-Time
Air Quality
Data

The Possibilities

Real-Time
Air Quality
Data

The Possibilities

Real-Time
Air Quality
Data

The Possibilities

Real-Time
Air Quality
Data

The Possibilities

Real-Time
Air Quality
Data

The Possibilities

Real-Time
Air Quality
Data

Thousands of Disparate, Hidden Sources

Across the World

Other efforts to aggregate this info

aqicn.org

are awesome, but not

Opening Up
AQ Empowers
the Public

Real-Time
Air Quality
Data on Public
Sites

Media

Open
Programmatic
+ Historical
Access

Public Health
Policy + Research
Low-Cost
Sensors/Sat
ellites
Apps + Local
Activism
Global + Regional
Climate + AQ Research

OpenAQs Three Guiding Principles

Open Historical Data +
Programmatic Access
Open Source

Community-Driven

The first 2 months:

> 825,000 data points at 400+ sites

PM10, PM2.5, BC, O3, CO, NO2, SO2

The Platform

Data Ingest Mechanism (openaq-fetch)

Data Format (openaq-data-format)

{

"date": {
"utc": "2015-1029T00:00:00.000Z",
"local": "2015-1029T00:00:00+00:00"
},
"parameter": "pm10",
"location": "PNH
Reijndersweg",
"value": 61.9625,
"unit": "g/m",
"city": "Reijndersweg",
}

"attribution": [{
"name": "RIVM",
"url": "http://www.lml.rivm.nl/"
}],
"averagingPeriod": {
"value": 24,
"unit": "hours"
},
"coordinates": {
"latitude": 52.4789,
"longitude": 4.57934
},
"country": "NL",
"sourceName": "Netherlands"

Example requests (openaq-api)

https://api.openaq.org/v1/measurements?
city=Beijing&parameter=pm25&date_from=2015-1007&date_to=2015-10-10
https://api.openaq.org/v1/measurements?
city=Houston&parameter=pm25&value_from=100
https://api.openaq.org/v1/measurements?
country=GB&parameter=pm10&order_by=value&
sort=desc&limit=20

(Ealing Horn Lane!)

On the Horizon
The Platform
More sources
Functionality like aggregation
and averaging
Map + Visualizations + Stories
Scalable infrastructure to
meet demand

The Community
Workshops! First one in
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia in Nov.
AGU in SF/Dec, AAAS in DC/Feb

Join Us!
OpenAQ
Community

christa@openaq.org
flasher@developmentseed.org
openaq.org | @open_aq