Locations

The Locations resource in the OpenAQ API provides details about air quality monitoring stations, including their name, geographic coordinates, and time zone information. It also identifies the responsible organization (when known) and data provider. Each location measures various parameters and provides information on the sensors, including whether the station is mobile or stationary, and whether the station is actively monitoring air quality. Licensing and attribution details clarify data usage rights.

Purpose and Use

The Locations resource helps users find air quality stations in specific areas and understand details about the station, from what instrumentation it uses and which pollutants are measured to who runs the station and owns the data. This allows for analysis and appropriate use of the data.

Key fields

id: a unique identifier for each location.
name: the name of the station.
country: the country where the station operates, including its ISO 3166-1 alpha 2 code and name. See the Countries resource page for more information.
provider: the organization or individual that facilitates the sharing of data. See the Providers resource for more information.
owner: the organization or individual responsible for the station. See the Owners resource page for more information.
coordinates: the geographic position, WGS84 latitude and longitude, of the station. For mobile locations, this is the first geographic point measured.
instruments: a list of devices used at the location. See the Instruments resource for more information.
sensors: a list of sensors that measure pollutants, including the parameter measured. See the Sensors resource for more information.
licenses: a list of licenses, with attribution information and a time period that each license covers. See the License resource for more information.
timezone:

Example response payload

https://api.openaq.org/v3/locations/2178

{
  "meta": {
    "name": "openaq-api",
    "website": "/",
    "page": 1,
    "limit": 100,
    "found": 1
  },
  "results": [
    {
      "id": 2178,
      "name": "Del Norte",
      "locality": "Albuquerque",
      "timezone": "America/Denver",
      "country": {
        "id": 155,
        "code": "US",
        "name": "United States"
      },
      "owner": {
        "id": 4,
        "name": "Unknown Governmental Organization"
      },
      "provider": {
        "id": 119,
        "name": "AirNow"
      },
      "isMobile": false,
      "isMonitor": true,
      "instruments": [
        {
          "id": 2,
          "name": "Government Monitor"
        }
      ],
      "sensors": [
        {
          "id": 25227,
          "name": "co ppm",
          "parameter": {
            "id": 8,
            "name": "co",
            "units": "ppm",
            "displayName": "CO"
          }
        },
        {
          "id": 4272226,
          "name": "no ppm",
          "parameter": {
            "id": 35,
            "name": "no",
            "units": "ppm",
            "displayName": "NO"
          }
        },
        {
          "id": 3916,
          "name": "no2 ppm",
          "parameter": {
            "id": 7,
            "name": "no2",
            "units": "ppm",
            "displayName": "NO₂"
          }
        },
        {
          "id": 4272103,
          "name": "nox ppm",
          "parameter": {
            "id": 19840,
            "name": "nox",
            "units": "ppm",
            "displayName": "NOx"
          }
        },
        {
          "id": 3917,
          "name": "o3 ppm",
          "parameter": {
            "id": 10,
            "name": "o3",
            "units": "ppm",
            "displayName": "O₃"
          }
        },
        {
          "id": 3919,
          "name": "pm10 µg/m³",
          "parameter": {
            "id": 1,
            "name": "pm10",
            "units": "µg/m³",
            "displayName": "PM10"
          }
        },
        {
          "id": 3920,
          "name": "pm25 µg/m³",
          "parameter": {
            "id": 2,
            "name": "pm25",
            "units": "µg/m³",
            "displayName": "PM2.5"
          }
        },
        {
          "id": 3918,
          "name": "so2 ppm",
          "parameter": {
            "id": 9,
            "name": "so2",
            "units": "ppm",
            "displayName": "SO₂"
          }
        }
      ],
      "coordinates": {
        "latitude": 35.1353,
        "longitude": -106.584702
      },
      "licenses": [
        {
          "id": 33,
          "name": "US Public Domain",
          "attribution": {
            "name": "Unknown Governmental Organization",
            "url": null
          },
          "dateFrom": "2016-01-30",
          "dateTo": null
        }
      ],
      "bounds": [-106.584702, 35.1353, -106.584702, 35.1353],
      "distance": null,
      "datetimeFirst": {
        "utc": "2016-03-06T20:00:00Z",
        "local": "2016-03-06T13:00:00-07:00"
      },
      "datetimeLast": {
        "utc": "2024-09-25T22:00:00Z",
        "local": "2024-09-25T16:00:00-06:00"
      }
    }
  ]
}