After my recent thread on air quality in Hanoi (please see the link below, if you’re interested!), I thought it could be an interesting ‘mini series’ to post about the air quality in countries and cities that I visit. While these will only be small snapshots, I thought it could provide some interesting insights and it will also allow me to document some of my findings during my travels.
So, with my AirGradient Open Air and Atmotube Pro, I will be beginning to record the air quality in the cities I visit. While I’ve already largely been doing this, this is the first time I will share the information.
Since I was in Almaty for the psat month, what better place to start? Below are some findings from running an outdoor air quality monitor on the balcony of our apartment for just under two weeks.
These readings were taken during June (summer) and were taken on the 11th floor of an apartment in the southern part of the city (near Mega Center). Interestingly, there is quite a consistent spike that occurs in the evening/early morning. I’m not quite sure what caused this, but it does appear to be quite regular.
I was carrying an earlier version of the Atmotube nearly ten years ago until the app stopped working with modern iPhones. Glad to see they’ve updated everything.
During travel on public transport and staying in shared accommodation of various sorts, I realized that additional devices would be very useful to track CO, NOx, and CO2. More options exist now. I got a CO monitor and alarm - without a data logging feature, unfortunately. But great for awareness of air quality on the back of the bus.
That’s very cool to hear - I didn’t even realise it existed ten years ago!
They’re about to release a new version, so I’m quite excited about that. I hope they will add a CO2 sensor, allowing me to carry just one device instead of an Aranet and an Atmotube.
Following on from my Almaty air quality post, I’ve now set up my monitor in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. It’s only been recording for about one week (in August), but so far, the air quality looks to be quite good in the part of the city I am staying in!
