Air quality
Air quality in Ouagadougou today
Updated
Moderate (US AQI 94) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Sun, Oct 25, 5:00 pm (17:00 UTC).
Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Ouagadougou, Centre, Burkina Faso, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.
- US AQI now
- 94 Moderate
- PM2.5
- 34 µg/m³ 2.3× WHO 24-h guideline
- PM10
- 94 µg/m³
- Ozone
- 83 µg/m³
- Dominant pollutant
- PM2.5 sub-index 94
- Best hour today
- 5:00 pm AQI 94
- European AQI
- 53
Air quality in Ouagadougou right now
Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Ouagadougou, Centre, Burkina Faso is 94, which falls in the "Moderate" band (up to 100). Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors.
The index is driven mainly by PM2.5, whose own sub-index is 94. 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 34 µg/m³, 2.3 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 94 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 83 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 4 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).
Also this hour: desert dust at 130 µg/m³, high enough to haze the sky, carbon monoxide 194 µg/m³.
Ouagadougou AQI forecast: next 48 hours
Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 94 around Sun 5:00 pm to 122 around Mon 5:00 pm, from "Moderate" at best to "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" at worst.
The following day is expected to be worse, averaging about 116 against 111 for the next 24 hours.
| Local time (Africa/Ouagadougou) | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ | PM10 µg/m³ | Ozone µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sun 5:00 pm | 94 | Moderate | 34.2 | 94 | 83 |
| Sun 8:00 pm | 97 | Moderate | 50.2 | 118 | 55 |
| Sun 11:00 pm | 104 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 59.5 | 132 | 37 |
| Mon 2:00 am | 112 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 47.3 | 113 | 38 |
| Mon 5:00 am | 116 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 39.5 | 89 | 37 |
| Mon 8:00 am | 116 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 40.2 | 82 | 70 |
| Mon 11:00 am | 118 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 40.5 | 112 | 103 |
| Mon 2:00 pm | 120 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 39.3 | 104 | 108 |
| Mon 5:00 pm | 122 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 37.5 | 89 | 87 |
| Mon 8:00 pm | 122 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 45.9 | 93 | 56 |
| Mon 11:00 pm | 120 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 47.3 | 93 | 47 |
| Tue 2:00 am | 117 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 42.8 | 87 | 52 |
| Tue 5:00 am | 116 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 37.3 | 65 | 48 |
| Tue 8:00 am | 114 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 34 | 56 | 67 |
| Tue 11:00 am | 112 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 40.9 | 89 | 88 |
| Tue 2:00 pm | 112 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 38 | 88 | 96 |
| Tue 5:00 pm | 111 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | 36.9 | 81 | 81 |
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 Ouagadougou today
Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 5:00 pm (AQI 94, Moderate) and the worst around 9:00 pm (AQI 99). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.
Ouagadougou vs the rest of Burkina Faso
Across 3 Burkina Faso cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 91 (Moderate). Ouagadougou at 94 is about average.
It ranks 2 of 3 from cleanest to most polluted; the cleanest is Bobo-Dioulasso (86) and the most polluted Saaba (94).
For context, the median across 2,513 cities worldwide is 64.
Air quality in cities near Ouagadougou
| City | Distance | US AQI | Category | PM2.5 µg/m³ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saaba | 13 km | 94 | Moderate | 34.2 |
| Bobo-Dioulasso | 328 km | 86 | Moderate | 28.1 |
| Tamale | 338 km | 95 | Moderate | 41.1 |
Model vs measured
We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Ouagadougou, 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 60 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 1021 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 7 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 94, most people are fine outdoors. If you are unusually sensitive to PM2.5, keep long or intense workouts to the cleaner hours shown above.
What the US AQI numbers mean
| US AQI | Category | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 0-50 | Good | Air quality is satisfactory and poses little or no risk; a good time for outdoor activity. |
| 51-100 | Moderate | Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 101-150 | Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups | People with heart or lung disease, older adults, children and teens should cut back on prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors. |
| 151-200 | Unhealthy | Everyone should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors; sensitive groups should avoid it and keep windows closed. |
| 201-300 | Very Unhealthy | Health alert: everyone should avoid prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors, and sensitive groups should stay indoors. |
| 301-500 | Hazardous | Emergency 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 Ouagadougou
Air quality elsewhere
Data: Open-Meteo Air Quality API, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), NASA FIRMS.