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Air Quality Index

Cultural  
  1. A measure of the quantity of harmful particles and chemicals in the air.


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The index is used by weather forecasters to indicate the purity of the air on a given day. The higher the index, the smoggier (see smog) and more polluted the air.

Example Sentences

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On Wednesday, we had a rare afternoon where the Air Quality Index was below 100.

From Slate • Feb. 12, 2026

“Windblown ash particles may be too large to be detected by air quality instrumentation and will not influence Air Quality Index levels,” the advisory stated.

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 14, 2025

A screen in a monitoring room, called the Smog Cell, showed Pakistan’s Air Quality Index to be higher than China’s that day.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 20, 2024

Over the past few days, Lahore's Air Quality Index - which measures the level of fine particulate matter in the air - have hovered around the 400 mark.

From BBC • Nov. 10, 2023

Air Quality Index — are good for manual checks of current conditions.

From New York Times • Jul. 5, 2023