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Is there a rate limit on the API?
For the Air Quality API, there is a default rate limit of 6,000
queries per minute.
What is an Air Quality Index (AQI)?
An air quality index (AQI) is the scale by which government agencies and other
providers communicate to the public how polluted the air is or how polluted it
is forecasted to be. Many AQIs are related to health effects and some have
health recommendations for each AQI category.
There are many different AQIs globally, each may be calculated using different
pollutants, different pollutant concentration thresholds, different averaging
time periods and expressed on different scales, categories and colors.
Air pollutants are particles and gasses in the air that can be harmful to
people's health, especially at elevated concentrations. The Air Quality API
provides information about the most common
pollutants,
their concentration, emission sources and effects.
Are the calculations accurate?
The underlying air quality model calculating the AQIs is a multi-layered model
that uses various types of information and data as input. The overall accuracy
of the model is validated and monitored by comparing the model outputs to
government monitoring stations (these stations represent the ground truth
regarding air quality at their precise location). This is performed by running a
continuous cross-validation process using the Leave One Out Method: eliminating
the input data from one sensor from the model calculations and then comparing
the result to the actual station's reading to see how closely they match.
[[["Easy to understand","easyToUnderstand","thumb-up"],["Solved my problem","solvedMyProblem","thumb-up"],["Other","otherUp","thumb-up"]],[["Missing the information I need","missingTheInformationINeed","thumb-down"],["Too complicated / too many steps","tooComplicatedTooManySteps","thumb-down"],["Out of date","outOfDate","thumb-down"],["Samples / code issue","samplesCodeIssue","thumb-down"],["Other","otherDown","thumb-down"]],["Last updated 2025-09-04 UTC."],[[["\u003cp\u003eThe Air Quality API has a default rate limit of 6,000 queries per minute.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAn Air Quality Index (AQI) is a scale used to communicate air pollution levels and potential health effects, and the API supports over 70 AQIs in over 100 countries.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eThe API provides data on various air pollutants, including their concentration, sources, and effects.\u003c/p\u003e\n"],["\u003cp\u003eAir quality calculations are based on a multi-layered model and are validated against government monitoring stations for accuracy.\u003c/p\u003e\n"]]],[],null,["Is there a rate limit on the API?\n\nFor the Air Quality API, there is a default rate limit of 6,000\nqueries per minute.\n\nWhat is an Air Quality Index (AQI)?\n\nAn air quality index (AQI) is the scale by which government agencies and other\nproviders communicate to the public how polluted the air is or how polluted it\nis forecasted to be. Many AQIs are related to health effects and some have\nhealth recommendations for each AQI category.\n\nThere are many different AQIs globally, each may be calculated using different\npollutants, different pollutant concentration thresholds, different averaging\ntime periods and expressed on different scales, categories and colors.\n\nThe Air Quality API includes over 70 [air quality\nindexes](/maps/documentation/air-quality/laqis#supported_aqis) in over 100\n[countries](/maps/documentation/air-quality/laqis#supported_countries_and_their_relevant_aqis).\n\nWhat are pollutants?\n\nAir pollutants are particles and gasses in the air that can be harmful to\npeople's health, especially at elevated concentrations. The Air Quality API\nprovides information about the most common\n[pollutants](/maps/documentation/air-quality/pollutants#reported_pollutants),\ntheir concentration, emission sources and effects.\n\nAre the calculations accurate?\n\nThe underlying air quality model calculating the AQIs is a multi-layered model\nthat uses various types of information and data as input. The overall accuracy\nof the model is validated and monitored by comparing the model outputs to\ngovernment monitoring stations (these stations represent the ground truth\nregarding air quality at their precise location). This is performed by running a\ncontinuous cross-validation process using the Leave One Out Method: eliminating\nthe input data from one sensor from the model calculations and then comparing\nthe result to the actual station's reading to see how closely they match.\n\nFor more information about how Google calculates AQI, see [Air quality on\nGoogle](https://support.google.com/maps/answer/11270845).\n\nHow often is air quality data updated?\n\nAir Quality heatmap tiles are refreshed every hour in sync with current\nconditions data. Updates are typically published shortly after the hour."]]
