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Airleaf

Bukama vs Gandajika

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.

Gandajika has more tree cover — 35.1% against 18.5%.

Gandajika has cleaner air right now — AQI 44 against 74.

Tree cover gap
16.6 points
Gandajika is ahead.
Air quality gap
30 AQI
Gandajika is cleaner.
Trees between them
57.3K
Gandajika has more standing.
Bukama

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Gandajika

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Tree cover

Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.

18.5%

35.1%

Air quality index

US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.

74 · Moderate

44 · Good

Trees standing

Estimated from the measured canopy area.

52.9K

110K

Trees still needed

To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.

32.9K

0

CO₂ absorbed each year

By the trees already standing.

1.2M kg

2.4M kg

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 modelled, with no ground station close enough to either.

PM2.5

Fine particles, the pollutant that usually sets the index.

22.8 µg/m³

10.5 µg/m³

PM10

Coarser particles — dust, pollen, road grit.

24.6 µg/m³

11.2 µg/m³

Nitrogen dioxide

Mostly traffic and combustion.

1.2 µg/m³

0.4 µg/m³

Ozone

Forms in sunlight; peaks on hot, still afternoons.

123 µg/m³

90 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.

BukamaGandajika· daily US EPA index, last 7 days
06312522 Sept25 Sept28 Sept
Daily air quality index for Bukama and Gandajika
DayBukamaGandajika
22 Sept12466
23 Sept10073
24 Sept8477
25 Sept8569
26 Sept9173
27 Sept8245
28 Sept7553

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. Gandajika leads here at 35.1%.

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: Bukama reads 74 (moderate) and Gandajika reads 44 (good) right now.

Frequently asked

Bukama and Gandajika, answered

Which has more trees, Bukama or Gandajika?

Gandajika, with roughly 110,270 trees inside its 2 km radius against 52,947. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Gandajika has the denser canopy at 35.1%.

Which has better air quality, Bukama or Gandajika?

Gandajika right now, at AQI 44 against 74 — a gap of 30 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?

Bukama needs about 32,913 more to reach its canopy target, and Gandajika about 0. 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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