36K people follow this city
Full screen
Contributors
15
Stations
51
Contributors category
2
Government
2
Non-profit organization
0
Educational
1
Corporate
6
Individual
4
Anonymous
# | station | US AQI |
---|---|---|
1 | MHS KR st. Toktonalieva | 70 |
2 | s. Lebedinovka | 70 |
3 | Park im. Kemal Ataturk | 65 |
4 | Youth quarter 263 (near Pobedy park) | 65 |
5 | Bakai-Ata | 63 |
6 | Kyrgyz State Academy of Physical Culture and Sports | 63 |
7 | mkr.7 12/1' | 63 |
8 | Baytik Village | 61 |
9 | c/m Kok-Jar | 61 |
10 | y/m Altyn-Ordo | 61 |
Enjoy outdoor activities | |
Open your windows to bring clean, fresh air indoors GET A MONITOR |
community highlight
Get an AirVisual Outdoor and contribute to collecting millions of data points for the Bishkek map to track local air pollution
The air pollution map for Bishkek is easily accessed from the main city page. By clicking on the map, a whole new page will open up which is full of information about the air quality in Bishkek.
Once opened, the viewer will first notice the overall colour of the map. This colour reflects the general air quality of Bishkek and its environs. The colours are explained in the legend at the foot of the page. They range from pale green for good air quality to dark maroon which is classed as being hazardous to health. The next thing to take note of is the coloured discs which are superimposed over the top of the city. These represent the locations of the various ground-level monitors which record the data regarding air quality. The numbers indicated on them is the US AQI reading. This is calculated by measuring up to six of the most commonly detected air pollutants and is used as a standard when comparing cities across the world. Its use is encouraged by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
When an individual disc is selected, another new page will open which is dedicated to that particular part of the city where the monitoring station is located. The information under the map tells of thirteen stations in this area which supply the data needed to calculate the air quality.
On the main city page, it can be seen that during June 2022 the US AQI reading was 33 which is classified as being “Good”. The main pollutant was measured as being PM2.5 with a level of 8 µg/m³. The target level as recommended by the WHO is 5 µg/m³, so Bishkek is just over one and a half times this figure.
When the air pollution map for Bishkek is viewed in full-screen mode, the viewer will see four choices on the left-hand side of the screen. These can be toggled on or off as desired. The first option shows the position of the air monitors. At first, the discs might be on top of each other, but as the map is expanded so the discs will begin to separate. Each disc carried the US AQI reading for that area of the city which can be explored further by choosing that disc. The second option shows the location of any fires which are burning in the vicinity whose smoke may affect the air quality. When considering option four which shows the direction the wind is blowing in, you’ll get a good indication as to whether the smoke will affect the city or not.
The third option is quite unusual in that it changes the background colour of the map to reflect the overall air quality. It follows the colour system as described at the foot of the page. In June 2022, the overall colour took on a greenish hue which indicated the air quality was good. If this option is deactivated, the map colours revert to a more natural colour which some may find easier to read.
Looking across to the other side of the screen can be seen a table which ranks world cities according to their air quality. The cities with the worst air condition are listed first. There could be some surprises as to which cities appear on the list.
Looking down the page just underneath the map can be seen the number of stations which contribute to the data. Further down is a list of all the stations and their relative US AQI reading which makes it easy to see which is the most polluted area in the city. Currently, the station at Kok-Jar 2 has the highest US AQI number at 64 which would classify its air as being “Moderate”. Following on from this is a list of all the stations showing their popularity ranked by the number of followers they have. Bishkek International School is currently the most popular with almost 33,000 people following them.
Although not seen on the air quality map for Bishkek, the source of air pollution can be divided into three categories; production facilities annually burn three million tons of coal mixed with ash, motor transport (at the beginning of 2020, more than 540,000 cars were registered, more than 100,000 enter the city per day and fill the air with high levels of toxic gases, as they use low quality fuel. The third source is the emissions from heating individual houses with low quality coal or damp wood.
The only way to find the areas of high pollution is to study the map and select the discs with the highest US AQI number. As previously stated, the higher the number, the worse the air quality. People with local knowledge may know where the industrial areas are as they are usually areas of higher pollution due to the activity carried out there in the manufacturing processes. The city centre can also show an elevated level of pollution during the morning and evening commutes.
PM2.5 is an air pollutant consisting of solid microparticles and small droplets of liquid. Their size ranges from about 10 to 2.5 microns. PM2.5 particles have other signs and names: FSP (fine suspended particles), fine particles, fine particulate matter, finely dispersed floating particles and finely dispersed dust.
These particles and droplets are less than 2.5 microns in size and float in the air. They are found both in the forest and at sea, but in the city, they are much more dangerous. The first reason is that there are more of them in the city, and secondly, the chemical composition of fine-grained aerosols in the city is more dangerous than in nature. It should be noted that the composition of the aerosol PM2.5, and the parameters of individual particles may vary from city to city.
15Contributors
2 Government Contributors
32 stations
1 station
Corporate Contributor
1 station
6 Individual Contributors
2 stations
1 station
1 station
1 station
1 station
1 station
4 Anonymous Contributors
4 stations
5 Data sources