<ul><li>With winter coming, the air quality in major Indian cities like Delhi, Chennai, Bombay and Bangalore is only set to get worse.</li><li>Mobile apps can't clean up the air but can help your better prepare for the deteriorating air quality.</li><li>One size does not fit all, so each app has a unique characteristic that could make it perfect for your requirement.</li></ul> Air pollution isn’t just something that we read about in school and can ignore as we go about our lives. Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai measure ‘severe’ on the Air Quality Index (AQI) as winter starts to kick in. However, a number of mobile applications allow users to monitor the level of air pollution in their immediate area. It doesn’t make the air cleaner but it can help prepare for what’s in store — like when you wear a mask out of the house, guilt trip you into using public transport instead of the car, or maybe invest in air purifier so that it’s at least to safe breather inside the house. These apps don’t actually measure the air quality that’s immediately around you but uses data feeds from monitoring stations to tell you what the air is like in your area. Here are some fun apps you can download on your phone to track air quality in your area on a daily basis:

Before you breathe, use these apps to check if the air is clean enough

<keyword id="6358777" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="New-Delhi">New Delhi</keyword>, Delhi's <keyword id="53848" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="air-quality">air quality</keyword> turned "severe" on Saturday with <keyword id="8418371" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="slow-wind-speed">slow wind speed</keyword> allowing the accumulation of "locally generated" pollutants, according to <keyword id="6355166" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-meteorological-department">India Meteorological Department</keyword> (IMD) officials. However, it is expected to improve by Monday as the wind speed is likely to pick up. At 10 am, the city's air quality index (<keyword id="2578389" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="AQI">AQI</keyword>) was 401, which falls in the "severe" category. The 24-hour average AQI was 382 on Friday, 341 on Thursday, 373 on Wednesday, 367 on Tuesday, 318 on Monday and 268 on Sunday. Air pollution in the neighbouring cities of Ghaziabad (AQI 446), Greater Noida (401) and Noida (406) also entered the "severe" zone. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". The wind speed remained slow allowing the accumulation of pollutants generated locally, V K Soni, head of the IMD's environment research centre said. "Easterly winds carrying moisture also led to the formation of secondary particulate matter. All these factors together pushed the air quality in the 'severe' zone," he said. However, Soni said, the air quality is likely to improve to the "poor" category by Monday as the wind speed is expected to pick up. According to the IMD, the maximum wind speed is likely to be 8 kmph on Saturday, 10 kmph on Sunday and 15 kmph on Monday. The minimum temperature in Delhi was 11 degrees Celsius on Saturday and the maximum is expected to settle around 28 degrees Celsius, the weather department said. However, the minimum temperature is likely to dip again with the wind direction changing to northwesterly by Monday, according to IMD officials. Westerly and northwesterly winds blow from snow-laden western Himalayas towards the plains. Shallow to moderate fog is also predicted over the next two days, the IMD said. The minimum temperature this season has remained 2-3 notches below normal in the absence of a cloud cover on most days, according to IMD officials. Calm winds and low temperatures trap pollutants close to the ground, while favourable wind speed helps in their dispersion. The central government's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi said the city's ventilation index -- a product of mixing depth and average wind speed -- is likely to be 2,500 m2/s on Friday. Mixing depth is the vertical height at which pollutants are suspended in the air. It reduces on cold days with calm wind speed. A ventilation index lower than 6,000 sqm/second, with the average wind speed less than 10 kmph, is unfavourable for the dispersal of pollutants. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/ultratech-cements-5477-crore-expansion-plan-is-a-sign-that-birla-is-betting-on-a-faster-economic-recovery/articleshow/79549626.cms">UltraTech Cement's ₹5,477 crore expansion plan is a sign that Birla is betting on a faster economic recovery</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/sbis-mobile-banking-app-is-down-for-the-third-time-in-last-30-days/articleshow/79548953.cms">SBI’s mobile banking app is down for the third time in 30 days — digital services take a hit for the 25th time this year</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/economy/news/rbi-governor-shaktikanta-das-believes-that-inflation-is-likely-to-remain-elevated-in-the-winter-months/articleshow/79559454.cms">RBI governor believes inflation is likely to remain elevated this winter</a>

Delhi's air quality turns 'severe', expected to improve by Monday

Delhi's air quality deteriorated on Monday morning but remained in the "poor" category, while 14 of its 38 monitoring stations recorded "very poor" air quality, government agencies said. According to Central Pollution Control Board(CPCB) mobile app, SAMEER, the city's air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 281 on Monday morning. It was 274 on Sunday. <div type="Article" hostid="261" msid="79362686" title="India's national capital sees its coldest November in 17 years with temperatures dipping to 6.3 degrees Celcius" mstype="2" mssubtype="0"></div> It was 251 on Saturday, 296 on Friday, 283 on Thursday and 211 on Wednesday. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". The stations which recorded 'very poor' AQI include Anand Vihar, Ashok Vihar, Bawana, Dwarka sector 8, Jahangirpuri, Mundka, Narela and Rohini. The central government's Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi on Sunday had said that Delhi-NCR's air quality is likely to deteriorate on Monday due to unfavourable meteorological conditions. The central agency said the AQI is likely to deteriorate to the upper end of the "very poor" category between Tuesday and Friday. A total of 649 farm fire counts were observed over Punjab, Haryana and adjoining regions on Saturday, according to the Ministry of Earth Sciences'' air quality monitor, SAFAR. Stubble burning accounted for 12 per cent of Delhi's PM2.5 pollution on Sunday. It was 13 per cent on Saturday, 15 per cent on Friday, 20 per cent on Thursday and eight per cent on Wednesday. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/how-to-earn-money-at-home-from-googles-task-mate/articleshow/79362215.cms">Google is testing ‘Task Mate’ in India, which lets users earn money for doing tasks on their smartphones</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/apps/news/hdfc-banks-net-banking-upi-services-and-atms-down-due-to-data-centre-outage/articleshow/79344484.cms">HDFC Bank’s net banking, UPI service and ATMs were down due to a 'data centre outage' but RBI demands more detailed information</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/mount-everest-home-to-microplastics-and-melting-glaciers/articleshow/79324609.cms">Microplastics found at the highest point on Earth as the glaciers around Mount Everest’s death zone melt</a>

Delhi's air quality remains in 'poor' category as the national capital faces its coldest November in 17 years

New <keyword id="66" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Delhi">Delhi</keyword>, Nov 25 (PTI) After 10 days, Delhi's <keyword id="53848" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="air-quality">air quality</keyword> deteriorated to the "severe" category on Wednesday due to slow winds, government agencies said. Stubble burning accounted for two per cent of Delhi's PM2.5 pollution on Wednesday. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) mobile app, SAMEER, the city's air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 401 on Wednesday morning and deteriorated to 415 in the evening. It was 388 on Tuesday. It was 302 on Monday, 274 on Sunday, 251 on Saturday, 296 on Friday and 283 on Thursday. The capital's AQI was in the "severe" category on November 15, a day after Diwali, but later improved and remained in either "poor" or "moderate" category until November 22. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered "good", 51 and 100 "satisfactory", 101 and 200 "moderate", 201 and 300 "poor", 301 and 400 "very poor", and 401 and 500 "severe". According to Ministry of Earth Sciences' monitoring system SAFAR, stubble fire counts were quite low at 63 on Tuesday with its share in PM2.5 in Delhi's air at two per cent on Wednesday. "Effective stubble fire counts with sufficient potential as estimated from SAFAR-multi-satellite products are low (around 63). Hence, the stubble burning share in PM2.5 in Delhi's air is estimated as two per cent for today, it said. It forecasted winds to pick up and improve the ventilation condition by Thursday. The AQI is forecasted to improve towards 'very poor' category by tomorrow and likely stay in the lower end of Very Poor on November 27 and 28, SAFAR said. Stubble burning accounted for five per cent of Delhi's PM2.5 pollution on Tuesday, six per cent on Monday and 12 per cent on Sunday. It was 13 per cent on Saturday, 15 per cent on Friday and 20 per cent on Thursday. The maximum and minimum temperatures in the city on Wednesday settled at 24.4 degrees Celsius and 10.4 degrees Celsius with cloudy sky.

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Before you breathe, use these apps to check if the air is clean enough

Prabhjote Gill

Delhi's air quality turns 'severe', expected to improve by Monday

PTI

Delhi's air quality remains in 'poor' category as the national capital faces its coldest November in 17 years

PTI

Delhi's air quality deteriorates to 'severe' category due to slow winds

PTI