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Data Sources

Aeolus supports multiple air quality data sources. This page provides an overview of each.

UK Regulatory Networks

These networks are operated by UK government agencies and provide high-quality, ratified data.

AURN (Automatic Urban and Rural Network)

The UK's main regulatory monitoring network with ~150 sites across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.

  • Coverage: UK-wide
  • Data quality: Ratified (high quality)
  • API key: Not required
  • Pollutants: NO2, O3, PM2.5, PM10, SO2, CO
import aeolus
from datetime import datetime

data = aeolus.download(
    sources="AURN",
    sites=["MY1", "KC1"],
    start_date=datetime(2024, 1, 1),
    end_date=datetime(2024, 1, 31)
)

SAQN (Scottish Air Quality Network)

Additional monitoring sites in Scotland, complementing AURN coverage.

  • Coverage: Scotland
  • Data quality: Ratified
  • API key: Not required

WAQN (Welsh Air Quality Network)

Welsh monitoring network.

  • Coverage: Wales
  • Data quality: Ratified
  • API key: Not required

NI (Northern Ireland Network)

Northern Ireland monitoring network.

  • Coverage: Northern Ireland
  • Data quality: Ratified
  • API key: Not required

AQE (Air Quality England)

Local authority monitoring sites across England.

  • Coverage: England (local authorities)
  • Data quality: Ratified
  • API key: Not required

LAQN (London Air Quality Network)

London's main regulatory monitoring network, managed by ERG at Imperial College London. ~250 sites across all London boroughs.

  • Coverage: Greater London
  • Data quality: Ratified
  • API key: Not required

LMAM (Locally-Managed Automatic Monitoring)

DEFRA's umbrella feed for automatic stations operated by local authorities and regional networks outside the national strategy (AURN, SAQN, WAQN, NI, AQE). 196 active sites across six provider networks: Sussex, Kent, AQ Data Manager, North Lincolnshire, Leicester, Hampshire.

  • Coverage: UK (non-AURN/AQE local authority networks)
  • Data quality: Ratified (where provider supplies it)
  • API key: Not required

Global Portals

Portals aggregate data from multiple sources worldwide. Due to their scale (hundreds of thousands of sites), you search for sites first, then download.

OpenAQ

A global open data platform aggregating air quality data from government agencies, research institutions, and other sources worldwide.

  • Coverage: 100+ countries
  • Data quality: Varies by source
  • API key: Required
  • Documentation: OpenAQ

PurpleAir

Global network of 30,000+ low-cost air quality sensors, popular with researchers and citizen scientists.

  • Coverage: Global (primarily USA, Europe, Australia)
  • Data quality: Indicative (dual laser counters with QA/QC)
  • API key: Required
  • Documentation: PurpleAir

Networks

Networks are discrete monitoring systems with a known, manageable set of sites.

Breathe London

A dense network of low-cost sensors across London, providing high spatial resolution data.

  • Coverage: Greater London
  • Data quality: Indicative (lower than reference-grade)
  • API key: Required
  • Documentation: Breathe London

AirQo

Low-cost sensor network monitoring air quality in African cities.

  • Coverage: Uganda, Kenya, and expanding
  • Data quality: Indicative
  • API key: Required
  • Documentation: AirQo

EPA AirNow

Real-time air quality data from the US EPA's AirNow system.

  • Coverage: USA, Canada, Mexico
  • Data quality: Provisional (real-time, not yet verified)
  • API key: Required
  • History: ~45 days (for long-term data, use EPA AQS via OpenAQ)
  • Documentation: EPA AirNow

Sensor.Community

Global citizen science network (formerly luftdaten.info) with 35,000+ low-cost sensors.

  • Coverage: Global (primarily Europe)
  • Data quality: Unvalidated (citizen science)
  • API key: Not required
  • Documentation: Sensor.Community

EEA (European Environment Agency)

Pan-European monitoring data from national reference networks, aggregated by the European Environment Agency. 7,000+ stations across 40+ countries.

  • Coverage: Europe (EU/EEA member states)
  • Data quality: Reference (national regulatory networks)
  • API key: Not required

Sonitus (Smart Dublin)

Air quality and noise monitoring network in Dublin, Ireland. Measures NO2, SO2, CO, NO, O3, PM1, PM2.5, PM10, and TSP at 15-minute resolution.

  • Coverage: Dublin, Ireland
  • Data quality: Indicative (low-cost multi-parameter)
  • API key: Not required

Comparing Sources

Source Type Coverage Quality Real-time Historical
AURN Network UK Reference Yes 1973+
SAQN Network Scotland Reference Yes 2000s+
WAQN Network Wales Reference Yes 2000s+
NI Network N. Ireland Reference Yes 2000s+
AQE Network England Reference Yes 2000s+
LAQN Network London Reference Yes 1990s+
LMAM Network UK (council/regional) Ratified Yes 2000s+
EEA Network Europe Reference No 2013+
OpenAQ Portal Global Mixed Yes 2015+
PurpleAir Portal Global Indicative Yes 2017+
Breathe London Network London Indicative Yes 2019+
AirQo Network Africa Indicative Yes 2020+
EPA AirNow Network N. America Provisional Yes ~45 days
Sensor.Community Network Global Unvalidated Yes 2015+
Sonitus Network Dublin, Ireland Indicative Yes 2020+