AirQo API
The AirQo API gives you programmatic access to air quality measurements from AirQo's sensor network, and to a shared, Africa-wide registry of air quality monitors — including community-submitted monitors from any manufacturer or operator. Whether you are building a public dashboard, powering a city's environmental platform, integrating air quality data into a research workflow, or mapping where monitoring happens across the continent, the API is designed to fit your use case.
Who is this for?
| I am a... | I should use... |
|---|---|
| Partner or API consumer looking for network-wide AirQo data rather than one city or one organisation's devices | Public Cohort (airqo-public) → |
| Partner or organisation managing devices across multiple locations | Cohort ID Access → |
| City or municipality monitoring a defined geographical area | Grid ID Access → |
| Developer who needs historical or raw sensor data at scale | Analytics API → |
| Researcher or planner who needs predictive air quality data | Forecast API → |
| Funder, coalition, or environment agency mapping who monitors air quality where across Africa — and where the gaps are | Network Coverage API → |
If you need to know where air quality is monitored across Africa — including monitors from any manufacturer or operator, and networks AirQo doesn't run — use the Network Coverage API →. It's a shared registry of monitors that you can embed in your own site and contribute monitors to. It returns monitor locations and profiles, not measurements.
Available data types
| Data Type | Resolution | Use case | Tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly calibrated measurements | Hourly | Dashboards, monitoring | Free+ |
| Raw sensor readings | Minute-level | Advanced analysis | Standard+ |
| Daily aggregated data | Daily | Trend analysis, reporting | Standard+ |
| Spatial heatmaps | Per grid area | Visualisations, city maps | Free+ |
| Air quality forecasts | Hourly & daily (7-day) | Planning, alerts | Premium |
How data access is organised
All measurements can be fetched through four different grouping methods:
- Site ID — a specific physical monitoring location
- Device ID — a specific sensor unit, wherever it is deployed
- Cohort ID — a custom group of devices, typically managed by one organisation
- Grid ID — all public devices within a defined geographical boundary
Partners and organisations typically use Cohort ID because it groups their devices across regions. Cities and municipalities typically use Grid ID because it captures all sensors within their administrative boundary.
If you are after "all of AirQo's data", use the public cohort. It does not contain every device — it is a representative sample of public devices from every area AirQo covers, available through one fixed Cohort ID — airqo-public — so there are no device lists to manage. See Public Cohort — Network-wide Access →.
Base URL
All API requests are made to:
https://api.airqo.net
Authentication
All endpoints require authentication via a token query parameter. Pass your SECRET TOKEN as ?token=YOUR_SECRET_TOKEN on every request — both GET and POST.
See Authentication & Setup for step-by-step instructions on generating your credentials.
Next steps
- Set up your account and generate credentials →
- Choose your subscription tier →
- Make your first API call →
- Mapping monitoring coverage rather than reading measurements? Start with the Network Coverage API →