Air quality in Colombia: where to check and what to do

Short answer. Colombia reports air quality with the ICA index, set by the environment ministry, from 0 to 500 in six colour levels, from "good" to "hazardous" ¹. IDEAM's SISAIRE maps the data nationally ²; Bogotá (IBOCA) and the Medellín area (SIATA) publish their own local readings ³⁴. When pollution runs high, environmental authorities can declare prevention, alert or emergency levels ¹.

Where can I check air quality right now?

Nationally, IDEAM's SISAIRE shows a map of air quality and lets you look up data by pollutant, by monitoring network, by department and by municipality ². Phaenyx found no national real-time air quality page.

For local readings, use the regional sites:

• Bogotá: the district's IBOCA site (Índice Bogotano de Calidad del Aire y Riesgo en Salud) shows the index on a map, with data lookup, recommendations and contingency plans ³.
• Medellín and the Valle de Aburrá: SIATA shows the ICA for PM2.5 over the last 24 hours, PM10 and ozone, station by station ⁴.

For other cities, look up your department or municipality in SISAIRE ².

What do the index levels mean?

Resolution 2254 of 2017 sets the Índice de Calidad del Aire (ICA), a colour-coded value used both to report and to forecast air quality ¹:

The resolution counts as sensitive people those with heart or lung disease, older adults and children; for ozone, also people who are constantly active outdoors ¹. See Air quality index explained.

How polluted is the air on average?

The population-weighted median of Colombian cities shows about 17 µg/m³ of PM2.5 (annual mean 2021-2023) ⁵, more than three times the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³ ⁷. Nitrogen dioxide is about 5.6 µg/m³ ⁶, below the WHO guideline of 10 µg/m³ ⁷. That NO2 figure is a regional background over roughly 80 km: a busy street will be higher.

What should I do on a bad air day?

From the orange level (101-150), the ICA advice for ozone is that people with lung disease, children, older adults and people who are constantly active outdoors should reduce their exposure ¹. From red, everyone may feel effects ¹.

When concentrations reach set thresholds, the competent environmental authority declares a prevention, alert or emergency level, and the response is coordinated with the departmental, municipal and district risk management bodies ¹. Follow the measures announced by your city.

Phaenyx found no national official guidance specific to wildfire smoke or dust. See Wildfire smoke, A clean-air room at home, Masks for smoke, Pollution episodes, Sensitive people and polluted air and Children and polluted air. A household plan can note who at home is sensitive to polluted air.

Frequently asked questions

What is a "good" ICA value in Colombia?

0 to 50, shown in green ¹.

Who declares an air pollution alert?

The competent environmental authority, at prevention, alert or emergency level ¹.

Can I check air quality outside Bogotá and Medellín?

Yes: SISAIRE lets you look up data by department and by municipality ².

Who counts as sensitive?

People with heart or lung disease, older adults and children; for ozone, also people very active outdoors ¹.

Sources

1. Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sostenible — Resolución 2254 de 2017, por la cual se adopta la norma de calidad del aire ambiente — https://www.minambiente.gov.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Resolucion-2254-de-2017.pdf (accessed 2026-10-27; scanned PDF, read by OCR, articles 9-14 and 18-20)
2. Instituto de Hidrología, Meteorología y Estudios Ambientales (IDEAM) — SISAIRE — https://sisaire.ideam.gov.co/ideam-sisaire-web/ (accessed 2026-10-27)
3. Secretaría Distrital de Ambiente de Bogotá — IBOCA – Índice Bogotano de Calidad del Aire y Riesgo en Salud — https://iboca.ambientebogota.gov.co/ (accessed 2026-10-27)
4. Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá — SIATA – Sistema de Alerta Temprana del Valle de Aburrá — https://siata.gov.co/ (accessed 2026-10-27)
5. Atmospheric Composition Analysis Group (ACAG), Washington University in St. Louis — Surface PM2.5, V6.GL.02.04 (annual mean 2021-2023) — https://sites.wustl.edu/acag/datasets/surface-pm2-5/ (accessed 2026-10-27)
6. Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) — CAMS global reanalysis (EAC4) — https://ads.atmosphere.copernicus.eu/ (accessed 2026-10-27)
7. World Health Organization (WHO) — WHO global air quality guidelines (2021) — https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240034228 (accessed 2026-10-27)