Air Quality Checker

Project Overview

The Air Quality Checker is a console-based application designed to evaluate air quality in a UK user-specified postcode (excluding Scotland). By entering a postcode, users receive:

• An overall Air Quality Score for the location.
• Identification of the pollutant with the highest concentration, along with its individual score.
• Explanations of the identified pollutant.

Additionally, the app generates logs to document API request statuses and flags negative pollutant readings, which could indicate faulty measurement equipment.

APIs Used

The application integrates the following APIs:

• OpenAQ: Provides data on pollutant concentration and presence in specific areas.
• Postcodes.io: Supplies geographical details, including latitude and longitude, for UK postcodes.
• OS Names: Offers detailed location names and administrative details, such as boroughs and counties.

API Key Acquisition

OpenAQ

• Create an account (free) by following this link
• Register for an API Key in the OpenAQ Register.
• Access your API Key via the OpenAQ Explorer Account Settings.
• Include the key in API requests using the X-API-Key header.

OS Names

• Sign up by following this link.
• Choose the "OS OpenData Plan" (Free).
• Create an account and verify it.
• Add the "OS Names API" to a new API Project via the "API Dashboard" to obtain your key.

Postcodes.io

• This API does not require an API key.

Note: API keys are securely stored in a .env file and excluded from version control using .gitignore.

Application Features

Setup:

• Import required libraries (see requirements.txt).
• Load API keys from the .env file.
• Define the output directory.

User Input:

• Prompt the user to input a postcode.
• Format the input for API queries.

API Queries:

• Use the OS Names API to retrieve location names, postcodes, and county details.
• Query Postcodes.io for latitude and longitude.
• Fetch air quality data from OpenAQ for the provided coordinates.

Data Processing:

• Analyze the last 30 days of hourly pollutant data.
• Group pollutants by average concentration and score them based on the European CAQI system:

• Compute the overall Air Quality Score and provide a descriptive rating.
• Identify and score the highest pollutant.
• Generate user-friendly explanations for pollutants.

Error Handling:

• Log discrepancies or errors, such as mismatched postcodes, missing data, or negative pollutant values.
• Provide clear error messages to the user.

Output Generation:

• Log events with timestamps in a .txt file.
• Save a detailed report for each location.
• Example Postcode Scenarios:
  • BH9 2DH (Bournemouth): Successful execution.
  • BH1 2AT (Poole): Success with data from the nearest location.
  • B1 1AY (Birmingham): Flags negative measurements.
  • NG1 1AP (Nottingham): Successful execution.
  • DT6 6JQ (Chideock): No data available, demonstrating error handling and logging.

Expected Outputs

Console Messages:

• Location data based on the provided postcode.
• Nearest available location from OpenAQ if exact data is unavailable.
• Overall Air Quality Score for the selected area.
• Pollutant with the highest concentration and its associated score.
• Explanation of the identified pollutant.
• Error messages specifying reasons for unsuccessful requests.

Log File:

• Status of API requests with timestamps.
• Notes on negative pollutant readings for technical investigation.
• Details of successful and unsuccessful program executions.

Output Files:

• Individual .txt files for each location containing detailed user messages and outputs.
• Program Workflow

Issues Encountered and Solutions

Inconsistent Postcode Matching (OS Names API):

• Verified user input against retrieved data to ensure accuracy.
• Stopped the program with a logged error if mismatched.

Unfriendly Location Names:

• Augmented results with county names for clarity (e.g., "Hampton - Greater London").

Missing County Data (OS Names API):

• Used the DISTRICT_BOROUGH field as a fallback, appending "Borough" to the name.

Missing Coordinates:

• Queried Postcodes.io for latitude and longitude when unavailable in OS Names API.

Unavailable Air Quality Data (OpenAQ):

• Used the "nearest" option to retrieve data from the closest available location.

Long Explanatory Paragraphs:

• Reformatted text into readable blocks for better presentation in .txt files.

Additional Resources

• Screenshots: Terminal outputs and log files are included for validation.
• Test Outputs: Files for the example postcodes demonstrate the program's functionality.

This project showcases robust API integration, error handling, and data processing techniques, providing a user-friendly tool for evaluating air quality in specific locations.