Get started with ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World

ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World contains thousands of layers, maps, and other items contributed by GIS users around the world. These layers allow you to quickly find, integrate, and analyze information from a wide variety of disciplines. In the past, starting a new GIS project meant spending hours, days, or even weeks searching for and processing raw data. But you no longer need to start your projects from scratch. You can take advantage of the hard work others have done and benefit your GIS workflow.

In this tutorial, you'll browse the ArcGIS Living Atlas website to discover useful content and modify ArcGIS Living Atlas layers in ArcGIS Online. While researching the health impacts of poor air quality, you must find what data is available, and what will fit the needs of your study. Air pollution can be released by multiple sources, from vehicles to factories to wildfires. While different types of pollutants have different health impacts, studies have found that exposure to pollutants may be associated with health problems such as asthma, cardiac problems, cancer, and increased mortality rates. You'll start your analysis by exploring the content available in ArcGIS Living Atlas, and then evaluate the source, geographic and temporal extent, content type, and more to find what best suits your needs.

This tutorial was last tested on September 2, 2025.

Requirements

Get started with ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World

Search for apps 

You can explore the content available in ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World through its website. There are several ways to browse content, including looking for ready-to-use apps. You’ll start by searching for apps on the topic of air pollution, and opening the Air Quality Aware app.

Note:

This app focuses mainly on the United States. In the next section of this tutorial, you’ll use a layer showing more global data.

1. Browse to https://livingatlas.arcgis.com.

   

   On the Home tab, you can search for content and read blogs and articles about new content and best practices for GIS methods. On the Browse tab, you can view the full catalog of ArcGIS Living Atlas content, including layers, web maps, apps, files, and more. The Apps tab contains apps that have been built to turn these layers into information products for all types of audiences, including the general public.

2. Click the Apps tab.

   

3. In the Apps gallery, scroll down and click the Air Quality Aware app.

   The Air Quality Aware app is intended to provide information about the current conditions of air quality in the United States, along with the potential human health impacts.

4. Click View Application.

   

   The Air Quality Aware app opens. The map shows points representing air quality stations and the conditions currently measured at that station. Stations shown in shades of green are experiencing good air quality. Stations shown in shades of red and purple are experiencing Unhealthy to Hazardous air quality. The majority of stations are in the U.S., but measurements are also available for participating U.S. embassies and consulates around the world.

5. On the map, click a station reporting poor air quality.

   

   A pop-up window opens, showing more detailed reporting for that station. Many stations record the air quality index for three types of pollutants as well as their concentrations. In addition to showing a pop-up, a blue dot is placed on the map, and an information panel appears.

6. In the right side panel, read the information provided about the air quality in this area.

   This panel combines wind forecast information from the National Weather Service and population data from the U.S. Census Bureau to show who may be impacted by air quality conditions.

   Note:

   Demographic and weather information are only available within the U.S.

   You can also search for specific locations on the map.

7. In the Find address or place bar, type Los Angeles, CA and press Enter.

   

   Los Angeles notoriously experiences poor air quality. These conditions are a combination of the area’s topography and the number of pollution sources, including vehicle exhaust, industrial activity, and shipping traffic.

8. On the map, click one of the air quality monitoring stations in the Los Angeles area and read the pop-up to find the concentration of air pollutants.
9. In the information panel, find the percent of the population that are seniors, school age, or asthmatic.

   

   These segments of the population—older people, children, and those suffering from asthma—are at higher risk of health conditions as a result of poor air quality.

Now that you’ve used the Air Quality Aware app to get a better understanding of air quality, how it’s measured, and who it affects, you’ll search ArcGIS Living Atlas for more data.

Browse for data 

Next, you'll explore some of the other available content in ArcGIS Living Atlas to continue researching. You can use the gallery to view all items related to a particular topic, open their item pages to read more about the data source, and evaluate what content might be most helpful for your project or interest. First, you’ll review a live feed layer showing data aggregated from air quality monitoring stations by OpenAQ.

1. Close the Air Quality Aware app. If necessary, reopen the ArcGIS Living Atlas site.
2. On the ribbon, click the Browse tab.

   

   On the Browse tab, you can view the full catalog of ArcGIS Living Atlas content.

3. In the Search bar, type Air Quality and press Enter.

   Over 100 results are returned, including layers, apps, and maps. The type of content determines what you can do with it. Apps and ArcGIS StoryMaps stories are types of content, like the Air Quality Aware app, that have already been configured. You want to find layers that you can add to a map and work with, so you’ll filter the results.

4. For All content types, click the drop-down menu and choose Layers.

   

   Note:

   Content in ArcGIS Living Atlas is consistently updated. You may see a different number of results.

   There's still a lot of content available. You can filter it further.

5. Click the All regions drop-down menu and choose World.

   Some cards have banners at the bottom. The Authoritative badge indicates that the organization that owns the item has been verified as an authoritative source. The Subscriber badge indicates that you must be signed in to an ArcGIS account to access this layer. When searching for data, it can be difficult to know which layers to use. These badges help you quickly find the highest quality and most trustworthy data.

6. For the OpenAQ Recent Conditions in Air Quality layer, click the thumbnail.

   

   The layer’s item page opens. This layer shows global air quality data from monitoring stations. Because this layer is a live feed, the item page describes how frequently the item is updated, which is hourly in this case.

   ArcGIS Living Atlas content is contributed by many people and groups, not only large organizations like the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The gallery is curated to ensure items meet certain requirements—including metadata—before they are included in the catalog. ArcGIS Living Atlas items include a fully documented description of the data and its sources.

7. Click Open in Map Viewer to see how this layer looks on a map.

   

   The OpenAQ Recent Conditions in Air Quality layer opens in Map Viewer.

   The map is currently showing the OpenAQ – PM2.5 layer. PM2.5 is an abbreviation for particulate matter that is 2.5 microns or less in diameter. Particles are defined by their diameter for regulatory purposes, as different particle sizes can be produced from different sources. Particulate matter with a diameter of 10 microns or less (PM10) can be breathed into the lungs. Exposure to these particles increases the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses.

   Note:

   You can also choose to open the item in ArcGIS Desktop, which will download a Portal Item file that will open the data directly in ArcGIS Pro or ArcMap.

   Like the Air Quality Aware app, this layer relies on air quality measurements reported by monitoring stations. Some regions of the world have better coverage than other regions.

8. In the Layers pane, expand the OpenAQ Recent Conditions in Air Quality group and click the OpenAQ - PM2.5 layer to show the Properties pane.
9. On the map, zoom in or use the Search tool to locate Germany.

   

   Germany has a large and well distributed network of air quality monitoring sensors reporting data to OpenAQ. Using the legend shown in the Properties pane, you can see that stations shown in blue are recording PM2.5 concentrations of 25 µg/m³ (micrograms per cubic) meter or less. Based on World Health Organization guidelines, this is a safe concentration for short-term exposure. Concentrations higher than 25 µg/m³ are shown in shades of yellow, orange, and red.

10. In the Layers pane, expand the OpenAQ Recent Conditions in Air Quality group.
11. For the OpenAQ - PM10 layer, click the Visibility button to show the layer on the map. For the OpenAQ - PM2.5 layer, click the Visibility button to hide the layer.

    

12. Turn the OpenAQ - PM10 layer off and turn the OpenAQ - PM1 layer on.

    It is recommended that you use this layer if you’re looking for near real-time data or evaluating a region that has enough monitoring stations to draw accurate conclusions.

Compare datasets for use 

You’ll look for more layers in ArcGIS Living Atlas to see what other options there are for your analysis. Several other layers are available on this topic, including an imagery layer from NASA. You’ll open this layer and compare it to the OpenAQ data.

1. Close the map tab.
2. In the gallery, for the Global Annual PM2.5 Grids layer, click the thumbnail.

   

3. Review the item page, and click Open in Map Viewer.

   This layer shows annual concentrations of PM2.5 derived from measurements of aerosol particulates by several satellite missions. Immediately, you can see that there are several differences between the two datasets. The Global Annual PM2.5 Grids data shows annual averages instead of real time data, but it’s available from 1998 to 2019. If your goal is to show change over time, this layer may be suitable for your analysis. If you want to monitor real-time conditions, the OpenAQ layer is better suited to your analysis.

4. On the Contents (dark) toolbar, click the Legend button.

   

5. At the bottom of the map, on the time slider, click Play.

   

   Each year of data is shown in progression. The layer currently covers labels and other helpful features, so you’ll make a few changes to this map to better evaluate it.

6. On the Contents toolbar, click Basemap.
7. In the Basemap pane, scroll down and click the Terrain with Labels basemap.

   

   This basemap is configured so that map labels and other details draw on top of map layers to provide more context. This is helpful, but you also know that terrain affects air quality, as it can cause air patterns that trap pollutants in place.

8. On the Contents toolbar, click Layers. In the Layers pane, if necessary, click the Global Annual PM2.5 Grids layer to select it.

   When you select the layer, the Properties pane appears.

9. In the Properties pane, on the Appearance tab, under Blending, click Normal. Search for and click Multiply to select it.

   

   The terrain data from the basemap is now blended with the PM2.5 layer.

10. On the map, zoom in or search for Nepal.

    

    The Himalayan Mountain range acts as a barrier for air pollution, causing a high concentration south of the range, while north of the range the Tibetan Plateau has very low concentrations of PM2.5.

In this tutorial, you looked at air quality data from three sources to find what kinds of data were available for your analyses. For this topic, there is a variety of live feed and raster data that might be useful to answer different questions. Now that you’ve explored these options in the ArcGIS Living Atlas gallery, you can continue working with them in ArcGIS Online or open them in ArcGIS Pro.

If you're interested in learning more about what you can do with ArcGIS Living Atlas data, try some of the following resources:

• The Get started with imagery tutorial shows you how to use another popular app shared in the ArcGIS Living Atlas, the Landsat Explorer app. You can use this app to browse through satellite imagery from the Landsat program to analyze change over time, use different band combinations to monitor vegetation and agricultural health and surface temperatures, and download imagery.

• The Interpolate values tutorial shows how you can use the OpenAQ Recent Conditions in Air Quality layer shared in ArcGIS Living Atlas to predict air quality conditions at locations where there isn’t a monitoring station.

Acknowledgements

• Air Quality Aware app: Esri, EPA
• OpenAQ Recent Conditions in Air Quality: OpenAQ
• Global Annual PM2.5 Grids from MODIS, MISR and SeaWiFS Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD), 1998-2019, V4.GL.03: NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)