Air quality in Qatar is monitored through an integrated program to monitor and control ambient air quality, and the national air quality monitoring network for is one of the most important projects that have been implemented in line with the rapid development witnessed by Qatar in the economic, social and industrial fields and to achieve the national development strategy. 

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change monitors air quality in Qatar continuously around the clock (24/7) through a network of monitoring stations spread across Qatar, some monitoring stations belong to the Ministry and some belong to external parties distributed inside and outside Doha and are expanded and the number of stations is permanently increased and all stations are linked to the national network for monitoring air quality and work continuously to ensure that all elements that are monitored in the ambient air are within the national standards of the natural air environment of Qatar. 

The Environmental Protection Law No. 30 of 2002 and its implementing regulations, Law No. 4 of 2005, which established specific standards for Qatar's air quality in accordance with international requirements, including those of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other international organizations, serve as the foundation for the monitoring system.

Ambient air quality in the State of Qatar is monitored through a network of stations operated by the Ministry, public and private entities, universities and research centers (with more than (40) stations), and all of the aforementioned stations are linked to the Ministry's National Network for Monitoring Ambient Air Quality, and are periodically monitored by the Ministry to ensure that they work in accordance with international standards. 

Most of the monitoring station sites are located within the Greater Doha area due to the presence of the majority of the population and more than 90%. The distribution of the stations took into account the areas of environmental pressure and the impact of various activities on the locations of the population, so that potential sources can be identified with high accuracy and ensure the best ambient air quality within the places of population presence in accordance with national and international standards.

In addition to the fixed stations, the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change owns (2) mobile stations equipped with the latest technology to monitor air quality and ensure air quality in the country. Mobile stations are used to monitor air quality when needed to monitor air quality in places not covered by fixed stations or in emergency situations to cover wider areas and ensure higher air quality standards. The monitoring system, as in the case of fixed stations, is based on the Environmental Protection Law No. 30 of 2002 and its implementing regulations, Law No. 4 of 2005.

Monitoring stations include devices dedicated to measuring different variables, the number of which in some stations reaches more than (30) variables, such as:

• Sulfur dioxide (SO2) 

• Carbon monoxide (CO) 

• Nitrogen oxides (NOx, NO2, NO)

• Ground ozone (O3)

• Hydrogen sulfide (H2S)

• Total Hydrocarbons (THC)

• Suspended particle readings of different measurements (PM)

• Various meteorological data that have an impact on monitoring such as (wind speed, wind direction, temperature, humidity, solar radiation, rainfall rates, visibility and atmospheric pressure)

• VOCs (BTEX) benzene, toluene, xylene and ethyl benzene.

• Total Residual Sulfur (TRS)

• Each station includes some or all of these elements in accordance with standards and controls relating to the location of the station, the purpose of its use and other technical details.

The Ministry is making great efforts and continuously to follow up the work of the Ministry's stations and ensure their efficiency and work in accordance with the global system to achieve assurance of quality control, linking new additional stations to the Ministry's network and expanding monitoring points, which helps to monitor more accurately and comprehensively the ambient air environment in the country and ensure that the monitoring network is integrated and works according to the highest international standards and covers all areas of environmental pressure and population presence in accordance with Qatar Vision 2030.

The air quality index is a simplified way to define the state of air quality, and is based on data received from air quality monitoring stations spread across  Qatar, where the elements that are monitored are converted to different color levels that reflect the quality of the ambient air for ease of identification and understanding by the general public, where the green and green light color indicates clean and natural air and all the elements that have been monitored are in accordance with national standards, then the national standards begin to be exceeded in orange and red, and its word is close to Red or exceeding it indicates more pollution, as shown in the table below:

According to national standards and the system approved by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the air quality index describes five (5) basic elements that are compared according to national standards and are displayed according to color indicators, if the elements are within the national standards, the indicator is "clean" or "natural", but in the event that the concentrations of elements exceed national standards, the indicator takes the rest of the color levels as shown in the table above, and this includes the five basic elements, which are as follows:

An indicator of fine particles and dust particles in the atmosphere, which are small solid or liquid particles suspended in the air and are caused either by natural sources and factors, especially in desert areas and during dust storms or as a result of various human activities.

An indicator of the most important and common air pollutants produced when fossil fuels are combustion and can also be formed as a result of the oxidation of atmospheric nitrogen at high temperatures, and its most important sources are various means of transportation, especially cars in the city centre and during congestion.

An indicator of sulfur dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels or other sulfur-containing materials, negatively affects respiratory function directly.

An indicator of a secondary pollutant, ground ozone, is caused by photochemical reactions in the atmosphere that occur between nitrogen oxides and active hydrocarbons, especially in the summer.​

An indicator of carbon monoxide gas, which is a toxic gas that has no color or smell resulting from incomplete combustion processes of hydrocarbons, and its most important sources are factories and cars with low efficiency and incomplete combustion in general.

The Air Quality Data Monitoring and Analysis Unit represents the protection and sustainability of the Qatari environment and came in implementation of the sustainable strategy of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change within the framework of the priority and great interest that the environment enjoys in the State of Qatar in general and air quality in particular, and this is clearly included in the fourth pillar of Qatar Vision 2030. 

The monitoring unit is one of the most important environmental achievements to raise the efficiency of environmental monitoring and environmental protection and to obtain leadership in the region in the field of environmental monitoring due to using modern technologies, advanced tools and various sources of information using the latest monitoring stations approved according to the highest international standards.

 The monitoring unit includes multiple systems and programs to collect air quality data from different sources through the development of the national network for monitoring ambient air quality, which represents the most important part of the source of air quality data with more than (40) monitoring stations linked to the network directly and simultaneously distributed in different places in the country and places of environmental pressure to provide data on high-accuracy and continuous air quality monitoring. The network is constantly being expanded and new stations are connected according to new activities and projects in Qatar.

The monitoring unit relies on multiple data and information sources and linked to stations distributed throughout the State of Qatar, and this helps to control the quality of data with high accuracy through the tools and programs provided by the unit in the presentation and analysis of this data. 

The monitoring unit will represent an important step in starting to know air quality forecasts in Qatar and support the early warning system for air quality, as well as the current and future modeling of air quality, and data will be displayed and published in the form of environmental indicators to the public. The Environmental Data Monitoring and Analysis Unit is considered one of the leading units in the region due to its state-of-the-art technologies, tools, devices and stations in the world, data automation and modeling, real-time forecasting and early warning system.

Maintaining air quality in compliance with the highest national and international standards is of utmost importance to Qatar, and one of the initiatives of its sustainable environmental strategy is to pay close attention to air quality. This platform serves as a platform of accessibility for all members of society to accurately and reliably learn about the current state of air quality.

This platform reflects the national efforts and constructive cooperation between various Qatar’s entities to reach a comprehensive national air quality network with a single display screen that ensures easy access to information on the level of air quality to the public in all its components.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change was also keen to emphasize the need of not relying on unreliable methods, programs, or devices that are published by websites and destinations for commercial purposes without taking into account the quality and validity of information. The platform was to rely on a clear color mechanism consistent with the global system used to display air quality data in the form of easily understood color indicators with high accuracy through stations dedicated to monitoring air quality and operating continuously and approved by specialized agencies in the field of air quality.

The launch of this platform came as one of the most important outputs of the Air Quality Data Monitoring and Analysis Unit, as this platform was designed to give a comprehensive perception of air quality in Qatar to cover eight main areas, which are the current municipal areas in the State of Qatar (Doha, Al Wakra, Al Khor, Al Rayyan, Um Salal, Al Daayen, Al Sheehaniya, Al Shamal), so that it can be used and viewed by the public through the website of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change to know the level of air quality in an easy and understandable color way Designed in accordance with international standards and works autonomously and continuously through the link of the official website of the Ministry (www.mecc.gov.qa) and the public can view it transparently and continuously and know the state of air quality for different regions in the country. 

The development of this platform, which makes it possible for everyone in society to access and reliably learn about the degree of air quality, is a significant step toward publishing accurate data that accurately depicts the actual state of air quality in Qatar and emphasizes the significance of maintaining air quality in line with the highest national and international standards.

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