Skip to Content

2.3.7 Common Air Quality Index

Last modified by Hyunji Cho on 2022/05/26 08:46

2.3.7 Common Air Quality Index

Social challenge/ impact linked to:
Environmental
Co-creation phase linked to:
E) Co-monitoring
Level of importance
1 - High Importance / must have
Description
In 2005 the Common Air Quality Index (CAQI) was proposed to facilitate the comparison of air quality in European cities in real time. There are many air quality indices (AQI-s) in use in the world. All are different in concept and presentation and comparing air quality in cities was virtually impossible for the lay public1 . The CAQI and the accompanying website www.airqualitynow.eu or app were introduced as a ‘lingua franca’ solution to overcome this problem17 .
Scale as linked to D2.2 framework
  • City
Data source [ link to data framework]
  • Air pollution monitor
Connection with SDGs
  • Goal 3: Good health and well-being
  • Goal 11: Sustainable cities and communities
  • Goal 13: Climate action
Required Data
  • Hourly, daily, yearly values (absolute and average) PM2,5, PM10, NO2, and O3 (µg/m³)
  • The European air quality index CAQI does not prescribe a spatial resolution for this quantification, but it distinguishes between “background” and “roadside” monitoring sites, characterized by different mandatory measurements (NO2 and PM10 are always mandatory, O3 only in the first instance).
  • The European air quality index CAQI has both hourly and daily versions, characterized by different pollutants’ thresholds (always higher for the hourly measurements) for the air quality levels.
Expected Outputs
  • Continuously monitored
  • numerical value (very low, low, medium, high and very high)
  • graphic map
  • quantitative

1653554676184-297.png

Airly currently uses a slightly adapted version of the CAQI scale to include 7 colours instead of the traditional 5, with the divisions occurring in the "high" and "very high" categories. We take the worst pollutant as the indicator for the colour, and we aggregate the data into 1 number and display it as the "Airly CAQI".

Calculation methods
  • CAQI methodology.
Level of expertise required
  • high 
Links and references
  • www.airqualitynow.eu
  • Elshout S van den, Léger K, Nussio F. Comparing urban air quality in Europe in real time, a review of existing air quality indices and the proposal of a common alternative. Environ Int 2008; 34(5):720–6.
  • Elshout S van den. CITEAIR II project. INTERREG IVC Programme. www.airqualitynow.eu/download/CITEAIR Comparing_Urban_Air_Quality_across_Borders.pdf, 2012. [Accessed oct-2017].