Open Air Quality Data Platforms for Environmental Health Research and Action

Air pollution remains the greatest environmental threat to public health, and significantly impacts many aspects of human life. This review surveys digital platforms that provide data openly and make air quality data available for use and analysis by environmental health researchers for scientific research and to inform air quality action. Successful programs that rely on different types of open air quality data have been observed and exist as models for regions that have yet to improve their air quality. However, disparities remain in the availability and granularity of generated air quality data in resource-rich and resource-poor regions. Even if air quality data are made available and open, their usability and actionability still remain challenging. Determinants of usability may include the user’s technical know-how and ability to deal with disparate data; compute capabilities; barriers in data sharing and data generation; and misuse and misclassification of data and levels and sources of exposure. However, the synthesis of different sources of data and advancements in modeling may help fill in spatiotemporal gaps in many areas of the world. In addition, the democratization of air quality data is facilitated by advancements in air quality data generation (e.g., data collection by open-source air sensors) and the ability to contribute to global, open-access, publicly available repositories that openly share data. Many open data platforms exist for sharing and accessing ground-based/in-situ data, satellite remote sensing data, and modeled or otherwise derived outputs. Online platforms that allow visualization and analysis without the need to download software are also now widely available. Despite wide availability, disparities in accessibility exist—expansion and support through interdisciplinary collaboration and continuous funding support for air quality data is essential for the continuous global benefit and community-specific action to address air quality as an environmental health issue.