Air quality

Air quality in Paech’ŏn-ŭp today

Updated

Moderate (US AQI 55) Acceptable for most people. Unusually sensitive people should consider shortening long or heavy exertion outdoors. Model estimate for Mon, Oct 26, 10:00 am (01:00 UTC).

Live AQI, PM2.5, PM10 and ozone for Paech’ŏn-ŭp, South Hwanghae, North Korea, with a 48-hour forecast and the best time to be outside.

US AQI now
55 Moderate
PM2.5
9.1 µg/m³ 0.6× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
14 µg/m³
Ozone
65 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 55
Best hour today
7:00 pm AQI 49
European AQI
28

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Air quality in Paech’ŏn-ŭp right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Paech’ŏn-ŭp, South Hwanghae, North Korea is 55, 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 55. 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 9.1 µg/m³, within the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 14 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 65 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 2.2 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: UV index 0.7, carbon monoxide 123 µg/m³.

NASA FIRMS shows 7 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 8 km), but particle levels are not elevated enough to point to smoke right now.

Paech’ŏn-ŭp AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 44 around Tue 9:00 am to 55 around Mon 10:00 am, from "Good" at best to "Moderate" at worst.

The following day is expected to be cleaner, averaging about 38 against 49 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Asia/Pyongyang)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 10:00 am55Moderate9.11465
Mon 1:00 pm52Moderate9.41474
Mon 4:00 pm51Moderate9.61477
Mon 7:00 pm49Good11.21565
Mon 10:00 pm49Good9.91362
Tue 1:00 am48Good6.5860
Tue 4:00 am47Good2.9556
Tue 7:00 am45Good5.71161
Tue 10:00 am44Good9.71957
Tue 1:00 pm46Good9.41566
Tue 4:00 pm44Good3.4482
Tue 7:00 pm39Good4.3575
Tue 10:00 pm36Good4.2569
Wed 1:00 am34Good4.6967
Wed 4:00 am32Good4.71165
Wed 7:00 am32Good4.71062
Wed 10:00 am31Good3.9767

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 Paech’ŏn-ŭp today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 7:00 pm (AQI 49, Good) and the worst around 10:00 am (AQI 55). The difference across the day is small, so timing matters little.

Paech’ŏn-ŭp vs the rest of North Korea

Across 12 North Korea cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 59 (Moderate). Paech’ŏn-ŭp at 55 is about average.

For context, the median across 3,556 cities worldwide is 58.

Air quality in cities near Paech’ŏn-ŭp

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Kaesŏng22 km56Moderate9.2
Paju49 km66Moderate17.4
Gimpo-si55 km66Moderate17.4
Goyang-si60 km66Moderate17.4
Yangju69 km60Moderate14.8
Bucheon-si69 km66Moderate17.4
Incheon69 km66Moderate17.4
Uijeongbu-si71 km60Moderate14.8

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Paech’ŏn-ŭp, 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.

Advice for sensitive groups

At 55, 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 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 Paech’ŏn-ŭp

Air quality elsewhere

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