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Airleaf

Bukama vs Kipushi

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.

Bukama has more tree cover — 18.5% against 1.7%.

Bukama has cleaner air right now — AQI 74 against 93.

Tree cover gap
16.8 points
Bukama is ahead.
Air quality gap
19 AQI
Bukama is cleaner.
Trees between them
47.6K
Bukama has more standing.
Bukama

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Kipushi

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Tree cover

Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.

18.5%

1.7%

Air quality index

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

74 · Moderate

93 · Moderate

Trees standing

Estimated from the measured canopy area.

52.9K

5.3K

Trees still needed

To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.

32.9K

88.9K

CO₂ absorbed each year

By the trees already standing.

1.2M kg

118K 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

32.1 µg/m³

PM10

Coarser particles — dust, pollen, road grit.

24.6 µg/m³

34.7 µg/m³

Nitrogen dioxide

Mostly traffic and combustion.

1.2 µg/m³

1.8 µg/m³

Ozone

Forms in sunlight; peaks on hot, still afternoons.

123 µg/m³

99 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.

BukamaKipushi· daily US EPA index, last 7 days
06312522 Sept25 Sept28 Sept
Daily air quality index for Bukama and Kipushi
DayBukamaKipushi
22 Sept12495
23 Sept10068
24 Sept8468
25 Sept8571
26 Sept9176
27 Sept82100
28 Sept7599

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. Bukama leads here at 18.5%.

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: Bukama reads 74 (moderate) and Kipushi reads 93 (moderate) right now.

Frequently asked

Bukama and Kipushi, answered

Which has more trees, Bukama or Kipushi?

Bukama, with roughly 52,947 trees inside its 2 km radius against 5,341. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Bukama has the denser canopy at 18.5%.

Which has better air quality, Bukama or Kipushi?

Bukama right now, at AQI 74 against 93 — a gap of 19 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 Kipushi about 88,907. 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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