Frequently Asked Questions

The Ghana AQ Hub is the Environmental Protection Authority's national air quality monitoring portal. It displays real-time data collected from monitoring equipment deployed across the country, helping the public, researchers, and policymakers understand air pollution levels.

The network is operated by the EPA Ghana under the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation. Monitoring equipment is maintained by field teams and data is processed automatically on our servers.

Most stations report every 15 to 60 minutes. The data shown on the map and homepage reflects the latest reading from each station, which is typically no more than one hour old. Stations that have not reported for six hours are marked as inactive.

Yes. All data on this portal is available to the public under an Open Data Licence. You can also access it programmatically via our free REST API; no subscription is required for basic use.

The AQI is a standardised scale that converts raw pollutant concentrations into a single number from 0 to 500. The higher the number, the greater the health concern. We follow the US EPA calculation method which is used internationally. A score of 0–50 is Good; 51–100 Moderate; 101–150 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups; 151–200 Unhealthy; 201–300 Very Unhealthy; 301+ Hazardous.

Our network primarily measures PM₂.₅ (fine particles), PM₁₀ (coarse particles), NO₂ (nitrogen dioxide), and O₃ (ground-level ozone). Coverage varies by station; not all sites measure every pollutant. Visit the Science page for detailed explanations of each.

PM₂.₅ particles are small enough to bypass the nose and throat and enter the bloodstream directly, making them the most harmful common air pollutant. The WHO 2021 annual guideline of 5 µg/m³ is based on overwhelming evidence linking even low concentrations to cardiovascular and respiratory disease.

Harmattan is the seasonal dry northeast trade wind that carries fine Saharan desert dust across West Africa from November to March. During peak Harmattan, PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ values can rise to 5–10 times WHO guideline levels even in areas with low local emissions. These are natural events, not pollution in the industrial sense, but the health effects are the same.

Click any station marker to see its latest reading and AQI level. The colour of the marker follows the AQI scale: green (Good) through maroon (Hazardous). A grey marker means the station has not reported recently and should be treated as unavailable data, not clean air.

Only when PM₂.₅ in your chosen area crosses the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³. You will not receive daily digests unless conditions are consistently poor. In practice, alerts are most common during the Harmattan season (November to March).

Yes. Every alert email contains a one-click unsubscribe link. No passwords, no account, and no waiting period required.

We use the WHO 2021 guideline: PM₂.₅ above 15 µg/m³ over a 24-hour average is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups. We send an alert when a station's 24-hour rolling average crosses this threshold.

Currently PM₂.₅, which has the strongest link to health outcomes and the best equipment coverage across the network. We plan to add PM₁₀ and NO₂ alerts as coverage improves.

Yes. When you subscribe you can choose any town in our network, or leave it set to "All of Ghana" to receive an alert whenever any station reports poor air quality.

Visit the API Docs page for a full reference. Our REST API returns JSON and supports filtering by station, region, pollutant, and time range. Historical data is available for download from the Data Request page.

Simple read-only endpoints (station lists, latest readings, public statistics) require no authentication. Higher-volume or write endpoints require a free API token, which you can request from your organisation's account.

Monitoring equipment is calibrated against reference-grade equipment during deployment and at scheduled maintenance visits. Low-cost optical monitoring equipment can drift over time and is most reliable for trend monitoring rather than absolute precision. Readings within ±15% of reference equipment are considered acceptable.

Yes. Use the Request Data form to specify a station, date range, and pollutant. Downloads are provided as CSV files. Large requests may take a few minutes to process.

The live map is available as a standalone embed. Contact info@epa.gov.gh for the embed snippet and usage guidelines.