Best Alternative To Google Air Quality Data API: Ambee

Air is something we all breathe but rarely think about unless it’s causing us to cough or wheeze. 99% of us inhale polluted air, yet the mix of pollutants one is exposed to varies.

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With growing awareness of its impact on health and well-being, accessible and accurate air quality data becomes more crucial than ever. 

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Today, the tech world offers us numerous options. But, choosing the right data provider for your needs and ambitions requires a better understanding of the current market.

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Let’s break down how Ambee and Google’s air quality APIs fare against each other.

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Why is air quality data important for businesses?

The importance of measuring air quality data goes beyond a simple search; it is a valuable asset for businesses to improve the lives of those around them.

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It’s more than avoiding outdoor activities during high pollution periods. It’s about protecting your employees, business, and bottom line.

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Integrating air quality into your business operation helps you to make informed decisions - Improving health and productivity, optimizing supply chains, precision marketing, ensuring regulatory compliance, and strengthening brand position.

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One of our customers, Sanofi, uses air quality and pollen data insights in its app, Allegra Airways, to help users make informed decisions about their routes. This will change the way we look at urban navigation.

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To help you grow, we developed one of the most accurate air quality APIs.

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Now let’s talk about Ambee air quality API

Ambee's air quality API is built by combining data from on-ground sensors with our proprietary algorithms. We consider a range of pollutants to provide accurate, street-level air quality data to help businesses incorporate air quality data into every decision.

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And this is how it compares to Google

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Why does Ambee air quality data stand out?

‍1. Transparency and trust

Knowing where your data comes from is vital.

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Ambee adopts a multi-layered approach. We collect data from over 60 trusted sources, including government on-ground sensors, satellites from ESA and NASA, and even our own proprietary sensor network.

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This transparency allows users to trust the data behind their air quality insights.

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2. Hyperlocal accuracy

Air quality is spatially correlated, meaning nearby locations have similar air quality trends.

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Remember how forest fires in Canada veiled New York in smoke?

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Ambee combines ground-level sensor data with satellite imagery and factors like traffic hotspots, population density, and industrial activity to provide you with hyperlocal air quality insights.

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Ambee offers hyperlocal air quality data globally.

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3. Real-Time Air Quality Data

Air quality might change rapidly, so a real-time update is crucial.  Both Google and Ambee offer real-time updates. But at Ambee, we make sure to update our data 20 minutes past an hour UTC. This also allows our sources to update and publish the latest data removing latency.

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4. Historical Data for Trend Analysis and Forecasting

Air quality trends over time help us identify patterns and predict future conditions.

Both Google and Ambee offer historical air quality data, but Ambee goes a step further. Ambee can tell you what the air will be like up to 48 hours in advance.

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The future insights empower individuals and organizations to plan ahead and make informed decisions based on anticipated changes.

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For instance, with Ambee's air quality forecasts, an athlete can plan her training schedule around predicted good air quality days, optimizing her performance and minimizing health risks, or a COPD patient can avoid areas with high particle pollution.

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5. Resolution

Air quality monitoring stations cannot measure air quality beyond a certain radius. Satellite data have a fixed resolution. However, at Ambee, we have achieved an increase in resolution by 8 times in urban areas and 4 times in rural areas by using geospatial and proprietary algorithms.

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6. AQI and Detailed Pollutants

The air quality index is calculated using a multi-layered model. It's continuously monitored and checked against government monitoring stations to ensure accuracy.

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We validate our AQI data using the Leave One Out Method, where one set of data is removed from the calculations to see how well the model compares to the actual readings.

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Ambee tracks a range of pollutants - PM2.5, PM10, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. For example,

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7. Developer friendly

Ambee's API is open and flexible, allowing developers to integrate it into various applications easily.

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We offer data in multiple formats, including APIs, S3 Dumps, Historical Dumps, GeoTiffs, and Map Services (Soon).

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Here’s a video tutorial showing how you can easily get started with Ambee’s APIs

Ambee democratizes access to air quality data, empowering individuals, businesses, and organizations to build innovative solutions.

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8. Custom APIs

Ambee doesn’t stop at air quality. You can order a custom API as well, tuned to your requirements.

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9. Documentation and customer support

Ambee provides comprehensive documentation and support resources with focusing on personalized developer support.

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For Google, air quality is just an addition to their Maps platform. They keep their focus on community forums and knowledge bases.

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Learn more about Air Quality API

Every day millions of people face exposure to dangerous levels of air pollution, ranging from greenhouse gas emissions to wildfires and dust storms. 3.3% of the world’s GDP, which is almost $2.9 trillion, is lost due to air pollution.

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Ambee excels in hyperlocal data and diverse functionalities.

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Must Read: Why Ambee’s Data Quality Is Superior

With the trust of Fortune 500, Ambee is the pioneer of air quality data. For detailed information, view our air quality guide.