Pollen and air quality, today

34 countries, two data sources

In the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina and Chile, Respira uses the Google Pollen API, updated daily for wherever you are: eleven species in the US, grass and cypress pine in Australia, grass in the other three. Across Europe, it uses the Copernicus CAMS model: Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, Germany, Ireland and the United Kingdom, Central Europe (Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia), the Nordics and Baltics (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) and south-east Europe (Greece, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia). The national monitoring networks of Spain, Italy and Germany add measured readings where they publish them.

Which species you are offered depends on where you are, because the honest answer differs: ragweed, oak and mountain cedar matter in the United States, grass and cypress pine drive hay fever in Australia, birch dominates the Nordic spring, ragweed hits Hungary, Serbia and Romania in late summer, and olive and pellitory belong to the Mediterranean. Respira never shows a level for a species its source does not report there.

Pollen by city

Every US metro has a different pollen year: ragweed defines late summer in Minneapolis, mountain cedar defines December in Austin, and alder starts in February in Seattle before anywhere else has begun.

• New York, NY
• Los Angeles, CA
• Chicago, IL
• Dallas, TX
• Houston, TX
• Washington, DC
• Philadelphia, PA
• Atlanta, GA
• Miami, FL
• Phoenix, AZ
• Boston, MA
• San Francisco, CA

All 50 cities

In the UK and Ireland, each city page has today's level by type from the Copernicus CAMS model and its own month-by-month calendar: alder from February in London, birch in April, grass from June.

• London
• Birmingham
• Manchester
• Leeds
• Glasgow
• Liverpool
• Newcastle
• Sheffield

All UK and Ireland cities

Allergens in the United States

• Ragweed
• Oak
• Birch
• Maple
• Juniper and cedar
• Elm
• Ash
• Cottonwood and poplar
• Pine
• Grass
• Alder

What the app does

Today's levels, by species. Only the allergens you have selected, only where they are actually reported.

Air quality on the right scale. The EPA index in the United States, the European index elsewhere — 49 is "Moderate" on one and "Good" on the other, so showing the wrong one would be worse than showing none.

A symptom diary. Record how you felt; the app pairs it with the pollen that day. Export a report for your allergist as a PDF.

Smart notifications and a trip planner are part of Respira Pro. Set a threshold per allergen and get told the morning it is crossed, in any of your saved places.

When we have no data, we say so

Pollen models have gaps — a species with no coverage, a source that did not answer, a cell outside the model's domain. Respira shows "no reading" for those rather than a zero. "No pollen" is a measurement; "we have no data" is not, and the two should never look the same on a screen you are using to decide whether to go outside.