Air quality comparison · Yemen, 300 km apart
Aden vs Sanaa Air quality index (AQI) today
Sanaa has cleaner air than Aden right now: AQI 42 (Good) against 69 (Moderate).
That puts them in different EPA bands, so the health advice differs today. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sanaa averaged AQI 38 against 63, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. Sanaa has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Aden69Sanaa42
Head to head
Aden vs Sanaa at a glance
Sanaa is ahead on 4 of 5 measures, and Aden on 1. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Aden | Sanaa | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 69 | 42 (better) |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 19.6 | 7 (better) |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 7 days. | 63 | 38 (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 0.3% | 2.5% (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 61.1K (better) | 86.4K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Aden and Sanaa right now?
Sanaa has cleaner air than Aden right now: AQI 42 (Good) against 69 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Aden's PM2.5 is about 1.3× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either.
AdenSanaa
Concentrations at the same moment as the index above, for the pollutants both places report. Lower is better. The dark marks on the PM2.5 and PM10 rows show the WHO's 24-hour guidelines (15 and 45 µg/m³).
Aden: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Sanaa: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 7 days?
Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sanaa averaged AQI 38 against 63, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days. A single reading can catch a city on a bad afternoon; the week says whether it was the weather or the place.
- Cleaner days
- Aden0Sanaa7
- Average AQI
- Aden63Sanaa38
- Worst day, AQI
- Aden72Sanaa49
The daily numbers (7 days)
| Day | Aden | Sanaa |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 72 | 49 |
| Nov 6 | 59 | 48 |
| Nov 7 | 72 | 27 |
| Nov 8 | 58 | 28 |
| Nov 9 | 60 | 31 |
| Nov 10 | 58 | 38 |
| Nov 11 | 61 | 44 |
Daily averages from the CAMS atmospheric model for both places, so the week compares like with like. They can differ from today's reading at the top of the page wherever that comes from a ground station.
What it means today
Is it safe to go outside in Aden and Sanaa today?
Aden (AQI 69, Moderate): Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion.
Sanaa (AQI 42, Good): Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Exercise outdoors
- Aden
- Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
- Sanaa
- A good day to be active outside.
Windows
- Aden
- Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
- Sanaa
- Open them to air the house.
Masks
- Aden
- Not needed for most people.
- Sanaa
- Not needed.
Air purifier
- Aden
- Worth running if you are sensitive.
- Sanaa
- Not needed.
Against everywhere else
How do Aden and Sanaa compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Aden's air is cleaner than 36% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Sanaa's is cleaner than 67%. Within Yemen, that is 0% and 50% of its 7 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Aden
- Beats 36%
- Sanaa
- Beats 67%
More tree cover than…
- Aden
- Beats 1%
- Sanaa
- Beats 5%
Includes model estimates as well as station readings, so it can differ from our most polluted and cleanest air rankings, which use station readings only.
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.
Aden
2017: satellite photo from November 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Sanaa
2017: satellite photo from February 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Aden or Sanaa?
Sanaa has more tree cover: 2.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.3% around Aden, or about 7,854 trees against 617.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Aden | Sanaa | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 617 | 7.9K (better) |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 61.1K (better) | 86.4K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 13.6K kg | 173K kg (better) |
Tree cover on the satellite image
The same 2 km radius around each center, with the tree cover the satellite found marked on it.
Reading these numbers
How this comparison is made
Air quality index
The US EPA index, computed from current pollutant concentrations: ground stations where a place has them nearby, and the CAMS atmospheric model everywhere else. It moves hour to hour, so it is a snapshot rather than a verdict on either place. The guideline marks are from the WHO's 2021 air quality guidelines.
Trees and forest
Tree cover is the share of ground under canopy within 2 km of each center, read from Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail. It measures that circle, not the whole municipality, which is what makes the two comparable. Forest loss comes from the University of Maryland's Global Forest Change maps.
More on the method on the About Airleaf page.
Frequently asked
Aden vs Sanaa: your questions answered
Is Sanaa cleaner than Aden?
On air quality, yes, right now: Sanaa reads AQI 42 against 69, a gap of 27 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. Over the past 7 days, on modeled daily averages, Sanaa averaged AQI 38 against 63, and it was the cleaner of the two on 7 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Aden and Sanaa today?
In Aden, at AQI 69: Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. In Sanaa, at AQI 42: Air quality is satisfactory for everyone.
Which has more trees, Aden or Sanaa?
Sanaa has more tree cover: 2.5% of the land within 2 km of its center against 0.3% around Aden, or about 7,854 trees against 617. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Aden and Sanaa need?
Aden needs about 61,115 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Sanaa about 86,394 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Aden and Sanaa measured the same way?
The method is the same: the US EPA index for air, and Sentinel-2 satellite imagery at 10 m detail over an identical radius for trees. Both readings are model estimates, with no ground station close enough to either. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Aden vs Sanaa comparison update?
The air readings refresh about once an hour, and each reading's local time is shown at the top of the page. Tree cover comes from the latest clear satellite image of each area (Sep 18, 2026 and Sep 16, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
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