Accra vs Tamale
Tree cover and air quality for both, measured the same way: Sentinel-2 imagery at 10 m detail over a 2 km radius from each city centre, and the live US EPA air quality index. Same radius and same index, so the two numbers compare directly.
Tamale has more tree cover — 20.5% against 7.9%.
Accra has cleaner air right now — AQI 53 against 60.
- Tree cover gap
- 12.6 points
- Tamale is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 7 AQI
- Accra is cleaner.
- Trees between them
- 41.9K
- Tamale has more standing.
Tree cover
Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.
7.9%
20.5%
Air quality index
US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.
53 · Moderate
60 · Moderate
Trees standing
Estimated from the measured canopy area.
22.5K
64.4K
Trees still needed
To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.
63.0K
29.8K
CO₂ absorbed each year
By the trees already standing.
496K kg
1.4M kg
Seen from above
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each centre, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Satellite timelapses
Watch both change, year by year
A clear satellite photo a year of the land around each city. Press play, turn on the forest cleared since the first year, or drag the before and after.
Accra
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city centre.
Tamale
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city centre.
Air quality in detail
What each city is breathing
Concentrations in µg/m³, measured at the same moment as the index above. Lower is better in every row. Both are read from nearby ground stations.
PM2.5
Fine particles, the pollutant that usually sets the index.
10 µg/m³
14.1 µg/m³
The last week, day by day
A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon. The week says whether it was the weather or the place.
| Day | Accra | Tamale |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Oct | 44 | 67 |
| 13 Oct | 42 | 60 |
| 14 Oct | 36 | 59 |
| 15 Oct | 40 | 39 |
| 16 Oct | 50 | 49 |
| 17 Oct | 41 | 53 |
Reading these numbers
What is actually being measured
Tree cover
The share of ground under canopy inside a 2 km radius of each city centre, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It is a measurement of that circle, not of the whole municipality — which is exactly what makes the two comparable, since city boundaries are drawn to wildly different rules around the world. Tamale leads here at 20.5%.
Air quality index
The live US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations — ground stations where a city has them nearby, and a model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so this is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place: Accra reads 53 (moderate) and Tamale reads 60 (moderate) right now.
Frequently asked
Accra and Tamale, answered
Which has more trees, Accra or Tamale?
Tamale, with roughly 64,403 trees inside its 2 km radius against 22,535. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Tamale has the denser canopy at 20.5%.
Which has better air quality, Accra or Tamale?
Accra right now, at AQI 53 against 60 — a gap of 7 points. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day.
How many more trees does each city need?
Accra needs about 63,042 more to reach its canopy target, and Tamale about 29,845. The target is the same share of ground for both, so the figures are directly comparable.
Are these two measured the same way?
Yes — that is the point of the page. Identical radius, identical satellite source at 10 m detail, and the same US EPA index for air. Nothing here is adjusted for population, city limits or climate, so the numbers describe the same-sized circle of ground in each place.
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