Air quality

Air quality in Heshan today

Updated

Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (US AQI 125) People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 2:00 am (18:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Heshan, Hunan, China, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
125 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
PM2.5
43 µg/m³ 2.9× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
45 µg/m³
Ozone
53 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 125
Best hour today
9:00 pm AQI 102
European AQI
56

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Air quality in Heshan right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Heshan, Hunan, China is 125, which falls in the "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" band (up to 150). People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors.

The index is driven mainly by PM2.5, whose own sub-index is 125. Fine and coarse particles come from traffic, heating, industry, dust and smoke; they build up on calm nights and clear when wind or rain arrives.

PM2.5 is 43 µg/m³, 2.9 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 45 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 53 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 12 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: carbon monoxide 542 µg/m³.

Heshan AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 93 around Tue 2:00 am to 125 around Mon 2:00 am, from "Moderate" at best to "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" at worst.

The following day is expected to be cleaner, averaging about 103 against 113 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Asia/Shanghai)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 2:00 am125Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups43.24553
Mon 5:00 am123Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups42.74441
Mon 8:00 am121Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups464733
Mon 11:00 am119Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups40.74298
Mon 2:00 pm116Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups21.923136
Mon 5:00 pm111Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups19.720124
Mon 8:00 pm105Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups20.82196
Mon 11:00 pm97Moderate25.72664
Tue 2:00 am93Moderate33.83445
Tue 5:00 am91Moderate42.84439
Tue 8:00 am92Moderate54.95634
Tue 11:00 am95Moderate53.15447
Tue 2:00 pm99Moderate47.34969
Tue 5:00 pm108Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups45.54769
Tue 8:00 pm115Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups43.84552
Tue 11:00 pm122Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups485041
Wed 2:00 am129Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups50.85334

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 Heshan today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 9:00 pm (AQI 102, Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups) and the worst around 6:00 am (AQI 122). That is a swing of 20 points, so a run or walk around 9:00 pm is noticeably better.

Heshan vs the rest of China

Across 467 China cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 84 (Moderate). Heshan at 125 is 41 points worse than average.

It ranks 408 of 467 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Hulunbuir (21) and the most polluted Artux (264).

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

Air quality in cities near Heshan

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Changsha74 km128Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups47.5
Changde82 km128Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups42.5
Xiangtan97 km128Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups47.5
Loudi99 km133Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups57
Zhuzhou114 km118Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups63.6
Yueyang115 km111Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups43.4
Guankou133 km92Moderate40.5
Shaoyang172 km138Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups67.3

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Heshan, so the numbers on this page are model estimates. Models capture regional pollution well but can miss very local sources such as a busy road or a nearby fire.

Wildfire smoke

PM2.5 is forecast to reach 46 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 22 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 78 km away). Smoke is a likely contributor: keep windows closed, run an air purifier or HVAC filter, and check the fire map before heading out.

Advice for sensitive groups

At 125, children, older adults, pregnant people and anyone with asthma, COPD or heart disease should limit time outdoors, especially strenuous activity. A well-fitted N95/FFP2 mask cuts particle exposure; it does not filter ozone.

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 Heshan

Air quality elsewhere

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