Project Overview

Air quality is a huge factor when considering a lifestyle in certain locations. I moved to the US from India when I was four and recently revisited last year. I also visited Illinois last year to visit family friends whom live near Champaign County. This project compares air quality in these two locations and examines how specific pollutants (PM2.5, PM10) relate to overall air quality risk.

##Data sources

  • air-quality-champaign-county.csv — annual counts of days with less-than-moderate air quality in Champaign County, IL
  • Dataset_AQI4-5.xlsx — daily air quality index (AQI) and pollutant readings for cities across India

Data Cleaning

Both datasets required renaming, type conversion, and date parsing before analysis.

Champaign County: Air Quality Over Time

This graph shows how the number of days with less-than-moderate air quality has changed in Champaign Count. The values fluctuate from year to year but overall the trend shows an improvement in air quality. But the recent increases towards the end possibly indicate emerging enviornemental issues which we should continue to look out for.

India: Air Quality by City

This graph shows the air quality for cities throughout the country of India. Kadri, Mangalore shows the highest reported AQI(air quality index) at almost 800. Cities such as New Delhi and Vapi also have very bad air qualities which highlight the air pollution challenges among the country. Compared to Champaign County’s air quality data we can see a huge difference.

Distribution of PM2.5 and PM10 Across Cities in India

This boxplot shows the distribution of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations from the sampled cities in India. PM stands for particulate matter, PM2.5 means PM that are 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter and PM10 means PM that are 10 micrometers or less in diameter. PM2.5 consists of much smaller particles than PM10 and considered more dangerous because it can penetrate deeper into the lungs. The plot shows that PM2.5 concentrations are significantly higher throughout the years and exhibit greater variability.

India: Pollutants vs. Air Quality

This graph shows more of an individual breakdown of PM 2.5 and PM 10 vs the air quality. As you can see the outlier in each graph indicate the city of Kadri. The PM 2.5 graph appears to have a tighter linear association than PM 10 suggesting that it is a higher indicator of air quality problems.

Comparing India and Champaign County

This graph puts both of the datasets on a common timeline for comparison. India contains observations from one year which serves as a snapshot rather than a long term trend. The average PM2.5 concentration in India is higher than the number of unhealthy air quality days observed in Champaign County. This highlights and the difference between the two datasets and indicates the persistent challenges India faces with air quality.

Conclusion

Comparing these two regions highlights how dramatically air quality can vary by location, and how pollutant-level data (like PM2.5) can serve as a leading indicator of broader air quality risk. Although Champaign County’s air quality is far better than that of many Indian cities, it is still important to care about our ecological footprint and make sure we are trying our best to combat with theseenvironmental hardships.

*Note: AI was used in this final project to help organize the data and brainstorm the variables’ compatibility and relevance in terms of comparison and visualization.