The air quality data reported through the AirVisual platform comes from a combination of different sources.
One type is sourced from ground-based monitoring stations - these are typically either government monitoring stations or community-driven AirVisual Pro air monitoring stations, which measure and report air quality from physical sensors. Specific data sources are credited on both the AirVisual air quality app and website - see below to learn how to identify these!
Another type of data is modelized data, which is based on a combination of nearby ground station data where available, and multiple sources of satellite imagery, You will see a "*" icon on estimated AQI. Learn more on this below:
Thirdly, the AirVisual Earth 3D PM2.5 modelization combines data from public government air quality stations, AirVisual community air quality stations, and satellite data.
We strive to display these different data sources as transparently as possible, to give due credit to those who make this data publicly available. Read on to learn where you'll find these data credits within the AirVisual app and website:
AirVisual App
Enter a location's detailed information page, and you can see data source credited at the top of the page, and a redirect link to the source provider is provided at the bottom. For example:
CITY data from multiple different sources:
In many cases, the air quality data that we report for larger cities is likely to come from more than one data source. This may include a range of governmental sensors, as well as validated low-cost sensors from community contributors. For each city, we list the full range of data contributors, and you can explore these each individually.
Taking Bangkok air quality for example, the app page for Bangkok displays "Data provided by 31 contributors" as shown below (1st image). Clicking on this text will open a new page (2nd image) where these different sources are listed separately. Click "see all" to expand the full list.
Then, you can learn more about each individual data source contributor, by clicking on their name. This will expand their individual contributor profile (3rd image), where you can access the original data source link, as well as a full list of their stations, a map showing their data points, and more.
2. STATION data from a government monitoring source:
3. STATION data from an AirVisual data contributor:
4. CITY data from a modelization (marked with an asterisk*):
AirVisual Website
Data source information is provided under the AQI number on a station or city's page. For example:
CITY data from multiple different sources:
Taking Bangkok air quality for example, this city's data is contributed from multiple sources. The number of source contributors is listed under the AQI value, highlighted in red below. Clicking on this will take you further down this city page, to the full list of data source contributors...
...shown here:
Clicking on any of these sources will expand their individual data source contributor profile page, where you can access the original data source link, as well as a full list of their stations, a map showing their data points, and more (below).
2. STATION data from an AirVisual data contributor:
3. STATION data from a government monitoring station:
4. CITY data from a modelization (marked with an asterisk*):
If you have any other questions about which data sources we use to report air quality information, feel free to contact us below: