Air quality

Air quality in Shaoshan today

Updated

Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups (US AQI 115) 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, 10:00 am (02:00 UTC).

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

US AQI now
115 Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups
PM2.5
38 µg/m³ 2.5× WHO 24-h guideline
PM10
39 µg/m³
Ozone
89 µg/m³
Dominant pollutant
PM2.5 sub-index 115
Best hour today
9:00 pm AQI 96
European AQI
53

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Air quality in Shaoshan right now

Right now the modelled US Air Quality Index for Shaoshan, Hunan, China is 115, 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 115. 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 38 µg/m³, 2.5 times the WHO 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³; PM10 is 39 µg/m³ against a guideline of 45; ozone is 89 µg/m³ (below the WHO 8-hour level of 100); nitrogen dioxide is 5.8 µg/m³ (below the 24-hour guideline of 25).

Also this hour: UV index 4, carbon monoxide 461 µg/m³.

Shaoshan AQI forecast: next 48 hours

Over the next 24 hours the AQI is forecast to range from 86 around Tue 6:00 am to 115 around Mon 10:00 am, from "Moderate" at best to "Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups" at worst.

The following day is expected to be worse, averaging about 105 against 97 for the next 24 hours.

Local time (Asia/Shanghai)US AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³PM10 µg/m³Ozone µg/m³
Mon 10:00 am115Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups37.63989
Mon 1:00 pm110Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups17.420121
Mon 4:00 pm104Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups1922114
Mon 7:00 pm99Moderate222495
Mon 10:00 pm94Moderate22.42483
Tue 1:00 am90Moderate29.83059
Tue 4:00 am87Moderate34.63542
Tue 7:00 am86Moderate44.54536
Tue 10:00 am87Moderate50.85249
Tue 1:00 pm92Moderate47.14866
Tue 4:00 pm98Moderate38.63969
Tue 7:00 pm103Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups36.43762
Tue 10:00 pm108Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups34.23550
Wed 1:00 am111Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups353638
Wed 4:00 am113Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups46.44728
Wed 7:00 am116Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups50.45122
Wed 10:00 am116Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups45.44742

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 Shaoshan today

Between 6 am and 9 pm local time, the cleanest air today is forecast around 9:00 pm (AQI 96, Moderate) and the worst around 10:00 am (AQI 115). That is a swing of 19 points, so a run or walk around 9:00 pm is noticeably better.

Shaoshan vs the rest of China

Across 447 China cities we track, the average US AQI right now is 86 (Moderate). Shaoshan at 115 is 29 points worse than average.

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

Air quality in cities near Shaoshan

CityDistanceUS AQICategoryPM2.5 µg/m³
Xiangtan38 km129Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups48.3
Changsha54 km129Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups48.3
Loudi55 km132Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups43.5
Zhuzhou63 km136Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups33.1
Heshan74 km120Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups43.2
Guankou112 km83Moderate10.2
Hengyang115 km107Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups45.4
Shaoyang128 km145Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups50.4

Model vs measured

We found no measured PM2.5 sensor cell within 25 km of Shaoshan, 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 53 µg/m³ in the next 24 hours while NASA satellites detected 34 fire hotspots within 300 km in the last day (nearest about 39 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 115, 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 Shaoshan

Air quality elsewhere

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