Air Quality
Weekly Air Quality Update in Sri Lanka
Here, we summarize the current air quality in Sri Lanka including our weekly summary and the archives of these and some basic explanations.
Summary ( 25 – 31 May 2026)
In general, cleaner air flowed into Sri Lanka from the southwestern direction during the past week, contributing to generally favorable air quality conditions. However, on 27 May, Trincomalee recorded a daily average AQI value of 163, which falls within the “Unhealthy” category. On 25 and 26 May, Trincomalee recorded daily average AQI values of 114 and 125, respectively, which fall within the “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” category.
This increase in AQI levels at Trincomalee may have been influenced by localized sources, such as open burning, construction activities, or other local emissions, as cleaner air was generally being transported into Sri Lanka by prevailing southwesterly winds.
The remaining days of the week recorded “Moderate” and “Good” daily average AQI values. Trincomalee recorded the highest daily average AQI value during the week.
Considering the weekly average AQI values, Akurana, Digana, Nuwara Eliya, Chilaw, Kalawana, Trincomalee, and Anuradhapura recorded “Moderate” air quality, while all other monitored locations recorded “Good” weekly average AQI values.
Weekly Air Quality Index (AQI) Levels:
- Moderate (AQI 51-100): Akurana, Digana, Nuwara Eliya, Chilaw(CEA), Kalawana, Trincomalee, Anuradhapura
- Good (AQI 0-50): Colombo, Kurunegala, Norochcholai, Mirihana, Negombo, Battaramulla, Ambalantota, Mannar, Jaffna
Weekly Air Quality Highlights
Weekly Air Quality Blog
This page is based on our more detailed descriptions available at www.cleanair.lk
What is Air Quality?
Air quality is a measure of the level of air pollution. Polluted air consists of both particulate matter of fine dimensions and gaseous matter. The presence of these impurities decreases the pureness of the air we breathe.
How is it Estimated?
United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) has set up a standard to measure the impact on AQ by the following 5 major air pollutants:
- Ground- level ozone (O3)
- Particle pollution (PM2.5 and PM10)
- Carbon monoxide (CO)
- Sulphur dioxide (SO2)
- Nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
The AQI standard for ozone and particle pollution according to US EPA comprises of six categories. Each category is assigned a specific colour and corresponds to a different level of health concern. As the scale grows the air quality turns from good to extremely unhealthy.
© US EPA
Air Quality Monitoring
In Sri Lanka, the quality of air has been deteriorating in urban locales, in places close to industries and in places with biomass burning. The rate of deterioration is significantly high in areas of heavy traffic. This leaves communities residing in the areas vulnerable to the health impacts of air pollution.
Note, not all instruments shall be updating data due to connectivity issues. Above, you can find map based pointers to access these data.
In this page, we present real-time updates of air quality at:
- Akurana
- Colombo
- Digana
- Illanthandiya
- Nawalapitiya
- Norochcholai
- Puttalam
Our Contributions
We are:
- Diagnosing historical air pollution data for diurnal variations, seasonality and inter-annual variation for Colombo, Kandy, Puttalam and other urban areas
- Assessing the relationship with climate variation
- Modeling the transport of air pollution in Sri Lanka and the region
- Obtaining air quality data on particulates and carbon dioxide in 10 stations in real time in a network which covers Colombo, Kandy, Nawalapitiya, Puttalam so far
- Maintaining an online updated repository of air quality data
- Working with partners on assessing health impacts
- Developing an updated air quality map