Gdańsk City Council

The city of Gdansk (Poland) has installed 35 Airly air quality sensors. Data from the sensors will allow the citizens to monitor pollution in every corner of the capital of the Pomeranian voivodeship. 

During the pandemic local governments struggled with many problems. How should they organize the work of hospitals? How should they support entrepreneurs or receive applicants in the office? However, the city of Gdansk has not forgotten about the needs of its citizens, who raised the issue of air quality in the local budget. 

In November 2021, a comprehensive air quality monitoring service was launched in Gdansk. The project which is titled “Gdańsk – I breathe here. A system of air quality sensors in every district” is a program implemented as part of the Citizens’ Budget of 2019. Airly has installed 35 air quality measuring devices across the city. Sensors provide real-time data on the concentration levels of particulate matter: PM1, PM2.5 and PM10 and also measure temperature, humidity and pressure. The idea of the project was to install sensors for monitoring air quality in every district of the city, so that every citizen can check air quality in their nearest neighborhood.

Thanks to this project, from the end of 2021, the citizens of Gdansk have been able to  check current air quality in Airly’s free mobile application – available on Google Play, App Store and App Gallery –  and on the desktop map available at: map.airly.org.

What is the smog situation in Gdansk? Is it worth installing sensors and monitoring air quality in the northern part of Poland which is considered to be the cleanest? In the #OddychajPolsko 2021 report, our Data Science team analyzed air quality in the largest Polish cities, including Gdansk. This analysis revealed that among the six reviewed cities (Gdansk, Krakow, Poznan, Katowice, Warsaw and Lodz), the annual concentration of PM10 is the lowest by the sea – and this is something that the city can be proud of. But during the year, especially in winter, there are persistent days with increased air pollution, and with reference to the newest, restrictive standard set by WHO, the average annual concentration of PM10 even in Gdańsk exceeds the limit of 15 µg/m³. 

Taking into account the concentration of PM2.5 in relation to other Polish cities Gdańsk comes out quite well. The annual PM2.5 concentration here is 11.1 µg/m³ and is one of the lowest. However, it should be remembered that the new standard introduced in 2021 is 5 µg/m³, so even one of the cleanest Polish cities should take actions to reduce the concentration of dust in the air to comply. 

What are the benefits of installing the Airly System for local governments and residents? 

• Reliable, real-time air quality data
• Free access to data presented in friendly way on desktop map and mobile application
• Access to the Airly Data Platform, a powerful tool that collects all the most important air quality data and recommendations for government
• The world’s most accurate air quality forecast for the next 24 hours (by using the forecast, municipalities gain a source of information and a tool for planning actions to reduce air pollution (e.g. free public transport)

• Promotion of the local government on the MyAirly platform and mobile application