Global Air Quality Monitor

Real-time aggregation of 4 international air quality APIs with composite air quality scoring (0-100) and pollution risk assessment.

Purpose

This Actor analyzes air quality and pollution risk for any country by combining data from:

• NOAA National Weather Service - Real-time air quality alerts (US only)
• Our World in Data - Historical pollution-related death rates
• World Bank - PM2.5 exposure, CO2 emissions, methane emissions
• GDELT Project - Recent air quality and pollution news sentiment

Produces:

1. Air Quality Score (0-100) - Higher is better (lower pollution)
2. Pollution Risk Score (0-100) - Higher is worse (more risk)

Input

Required

• countryCode (string) — Two-letter ISO country code (e.g., US, IN, KR)

Optional

• state (string) — US state code only (e.g., CA, NY). Enables NOAA air quality alerts for that state. Ignored for non-US countries.

Output

{
  "query": {
    "countryCode": "US",
    "state": "CA"
  },
  "noaa": {
    "activeAlerts": 2,
    "alerts": [
      {
        "event": "Air Quality Alert",
        "headline": "Air Quality Alert",
        "description": "Air quality is unhealthy for sensitive groups",
        "onset": "2024-04-08T10:00:00Z",
        "expires": "2024-04-08T20:00:00Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ourWorldInData": {
    "pollutionDeathRate": 14.2
  },
  "worldBank": {
    "pm25AvgExposure": 7.4,
    "co2PerCapita": 14.7,
    "methaneEmissions": 650000
  },
  "gdelt": {
    "newsCount30d": 320,
    "avgTone": -3.1
  },
  "airQualityScore": 68,
  "pollutionRiskScore": 42,
  "dataAvailability": {
    "noaa": true,
    "owid": true,
    "worldBank": true,
    "gdelt": true
  },
  "successfulSourceCount": 4,
  "sources": [...],
  "disclaimer": "...",
  "timestamp": "2024-04-08T15:30:00Z"
}

Examples

Basic Usage (Global)

{
  "countryCode": "IN"
}

US with State-Level Alerts

{
  "countryCode": "US",
  "state": "CA"
}

Another Country

{
  "countryCode": "GB"
}

Data Coverage

Indicator	Coverage	Countries
NOAA Alerts	US only	United States (all 50 states)
Pollution Death Rate	180+ countries	Our World in Data participants
PM2.5 Exposure	World Bank members	180+ countries
CO2 Emissions	World Bank members	180+ countries
Methane Emissions	World Bank members	180+ countries
News Sentiment	Global	All countries with news coverage

Scoring Methodology

Air Quality Score (0-100, higher is better)

• 35% PM2.5 average exposure (target: <15 μg/m³)
• 30% Pollution-related death rate
• 20% CO2 emissions per capita (target: <5 tons)
• 15% Methane emissions

Pollution Risk Score (0-100, higher is worse)

• PM2.5 > 35 = high risk
• PM2.5 > 55 = very high risk
• CO2 per capita > 10 tons = high
• Death rate > 20 = concerning

Pricing

• $0.12 per query (Pay-per-Event model)
• Billed only when analysis completes successfully
• No charge if all upstream APIs fail

⚠️ Legal Disclaimer

This Actor aggregates publicly available air quality data from:

• NOAA National Weather Service Air Quality Alerts (Public Domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105)
• Our World in Data (CC-BY 4.0)
• The World Bank Environmental Indicators (CC-BY 4.0)
• The GDELT Project (CC-BY 4.0)

NOT health, medical, emergency, or environmental advice. Historical data aggregation only.

• Does NOT replace official air quality warnings or health advisories
• Does NOT recommend health or travel decisions
• For real-time air quality emergencies: consult EPA AirNow or local authorities
• Users must verify with official sources

All source data is redistributed under the original license terms with attribution. Data retrieved in real-time; not cached or stored by this Actor.

Attribution:

• "Data source: NOAA NWS (Public Domain, 17 U.S.C. § 105)"
• "Data source: Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0)"
• "Data source: The World Bank (CC BY 4.0)"
• "Data source: The GDELT Project (CC BY 4.0)"

Technical Details

• Runtime: Node.js 18+
• Timeout: 120 seconds per query
• Memory: ~128MB per run
• Concurrent API calls: 4 (parallel fetch)
• Source availability: 4 international APIs

Support

For issues or questions, please contact the developer. Data accuracy is subject to source API availability and update frequency.

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Last updated: 2026-04-08