Air Quality Health Index (AQHI)

Source

Environmental Protection Department (EPD)

Department URL: https://www.aqhi.gov.hk/
RSS Feed: https://www.aqhi.gov.hk/epd/ddata/html/out/aqhi_ind_rss_Eng.xml
API: https://data.gov.hk/en-data/dataset/hk-epd-airteam-aqhi-past-24hr-district

Format

XML (RSS) Updated hourly. No API key. Also available as JSON via CKAN.

~18

Monitoring Stations

Hourly

Update Frequency

1–10+

AQHI Scale

Schema / Fields

RSS Feed Fields

Field	Type	Example	Description
`title`	string	`"Central/Western: 3 (Low)"`	Station + AQHI + risk level
`pubDate`	string	`"Mon, 15 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0800"`	Publication timestamp
`description`	string	`"Health Risk: Low"`	Risk level description
`aqhi_value`	integer	`3`	AQHI reading (1–10+)
`station`	string	`"Central/Western"`	Monitoring station name

AQHI Risk Levels

AQHI	Risk Level	Outdoor Dining Impact
1–3	Low	No impact
4–6	Medium	Minor reduction in outdoor seating
7	High	Notable reduction
8–10	Very High	Significant reduction
10+	Serious	Outdoor events cancelled

Example API Call

# RSS XML feed
curl "https://www.aqhi.gov.hk/epd/ddata/html/out/aqhi_ind_rss_Eng.xml"

# CKAN JSON dataset
curl "https://data.gov.hk/en-data/api/3/action/package_search?q=AQHI+air+quality+health+index"

# Parse RSS with Python
python3 -c "
import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET, urllib.request
r = urllib.request.urlopen('https://www.aqhi.gov.hk/epd/ddata/html/out/aqhi_ind_rss_Eng.xml')
tree = ET.parse(r)
[print(item.find('title').text) for item in tree.findall('.//item')[:5]]
"

Example Response

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
  <channel>
    <title>AQHI Current Readings</title>
    <item>
      <title>Central/Western: 3 (Low)</title>
      <pubDate>Mon, 15 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0800</pubDate>
      <description>Health Risk: Low</description>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title>Causeway Bay: 4 (Medium)</title>
      <pubDate>Mon, 15 Jan 2024 08:00:00 +0800</pubDate>
      <description>Health Risk: Medium</description>
    </item>
  </channel>
</rss>

Used By

Model	How
Site Rating	Environment quality sub-score: lower AQHI average = cleaner air = higher site quality

Notes / Gotchas

AQHI is a health risk index, not a direct pollution concentration — it combines O₃, NO₂, and PM2.5
For site quality scoring, use the annual average AQHI rather than point-in-time readings
Historical AQHI data is available from EPD’s website for trend analysis
Station “Central/Western” covers Sheung Wan and Central — closest reference for the study site