Air quality

Air quality in Copenhagen today

Updated

Good (US AQI 33) Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 2:00 am (01:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Copenhagen, Capital Region, Denmark, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
33 Good
PM2.5
3.6 µg/m³ 0.2× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
12 µg/m³
Ozone
74 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
ozone sub-index 33
Best hour today
9:00 pm AQI 33
European AQI
27

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Air quality in Copenhagen right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Copenhagen, Capital Region, Denmark is 33, which falls in the "Good" band (up to 50). Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity.

The index is driven mainly by ozone, whose own sub-index is 33. Ozone usually peaks in the afternoon on sunny days and falls back after sunset.

PM2.5 is 3.6 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 12 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 74 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 1.5 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 145 µg/m³.

Copenhagen AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 29 around Tue 2:00 am to 35 around Mon 8:00 am, staying "Good" throughout.

The following day looks similar, averaging about 32.

Local time (Europe/Copenhagen)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 2:00 am33Good3.61274
Mon 5:00 am34Good3.41176
Mon 8:00 am35Good3.71274
Mon 11:00 am35Good3.51074
Mon 2:00 pm35Good3.21075
Mon 5:00 pm35Good4.4971
Mon 8:00 pm34Good4.9966
Mon 11:00 pm31Good61560
Tue 2:00 am29Good9.51953
Tue 5:00 am27Good6.11457
Tue 8:00 am28Good5.71249
Tue 11:00 am29Good5.61147
Tue 2:00 pm31Good6.71044
Tue 5:00 pm34Good6.51045
Tue 8:00 pm35Good6.61247
Tue 11:00 pm36Good7.91348
Wed 2:00 am37Good71247

Every third hour of the CAMS forecast via Open-Meteo. US AQI uses rolling averages (24 h for particles, 8 h for ozone), so it moves more slowly than the hourly concentrations.

Best time to be outside in Copenhagen today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 9:00 pm (AQI 33, Good) and the worst around 8:00 am (AQI 35). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.

Copenhagen vs the rest of Denmark

Across 2 Denmark cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 33 (Good). Copenhagen at 33 is about average.

It ranks 1 of 2 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Copenhagen (33) and the most polluted Århus (33).

For context, the median across 3,909 cities worldwide is 57.

Air quality in cities near Copenhagen

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Malmö28 km33Good3.4
Århus156 km33Good3.6
Kiel216 km33Good2.7
Gothenburg229 km34Good2.6
Police269 km28Good3.7
Szczecin281 km28Good3.7
Hamburg289 km31Good3.5
Bremerhaven349 km33Good3.2

Model vs measured

The nearest measured PM2.5 reading is 0.7 µg/m³ from Sensor.Community (median of 5 sensors), centred about 14 km from the city centre. That is close to the model estimate of 3.6 µg/m³. Low-cost sensors can read high in humid air; reference monitors are more accurate but sparser.

Advice for sensitive groups

With the AQI at 33, there is no need for sensitive groups to change plans. People with asthma should still carry their reliever inhaler as usual.

What the US AQI numbers mean

US AQICategoryWhat it means
0-50GoodAir quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity.
51-100ModerateAcceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors.
101-150Unhealthy for Sensitive GroupsPeople with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.
151-200UnhealthyEveryone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed.
201-300Very UnhealthyHealth alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors.
301-500HazardousEmergency conditions: everyone should avoid all outdoor physical activity and stay indoors with filtered air if possible. The scale tops out at 500; heavier dust or smoke is shown as 500.

Values on this page are modelled by CAMS (Copernicus) and served by Open-Meteo; they are estimates for the area around the city centre, not readings from an official monitor.

Nearby cities

More for Copenhagen

Air quality elsewhere

Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), Sensor.Community.