Air quality comparison · Angola, 642 km apart
Calumbo vs Lubango Air quality index (AQI) today
Calumbo has cleaner air than Lubango right now: AQI 54 (Moderate) against 63 (Moderate).
Both sit in the same EPA band, so the health advice is the same for each today. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Lubango averaged AQI 46 against 51, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days. Calumbo has lost more forest since 2001. Calumbo has more tree cover.
Updated . Lower is better on the US EPA index: 0–50 is Good, above 300 is Hazardous. Measured by Airleaf.
Calumbo54Lubango63
Head to head
Calumbo vs Lubango at a glance
Calumbo is ahead on 4 of 6 measures, and Lubango on 2. The better figure in each row is marked.
| Calumbo | Lubango | |
|---|---|---|
| Air quality nowUS AQI. Lower is better. | 54 (better) | 63 |
| PM2.5Fine particles, µg/m³. | 11.8 (better) | 15.3 |
| Past week's averageUS AQI, 6 days. | 51 | 46 (better) |
| Forest lost since 2001Within 10 km of the center. | 201 ha | 27 ha (better) |
| Tree coverWithin 2 km of the center. | 28.1% (better) | 6.8% |
| Trees still neededTo reach a healthy canopy. | 5.8K (better) | 72.9K |
Air quality today
What is the air like in Calumbo and Lubango right now?
Calumbo has cleaner air than Lubango right now: AQI 54 (Moderate) against 63 (Moderate). PM2.5 is setting the index in both.
Lubango's PM2.5 is about 1.0× the WHO's 24-hour guideline of 15 µg/m³.
Lubango is read from a nearby ground station and Calumbo is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like.
CalumboLubango
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).
Calumbo: Model estimate · no ground station nearby. Data: Open-Meteo / CAMS, US EPA index.
Lubango: Ground station · Centro Lubango, 600 m away. Data: OpenAQ · AirGradient, Evanilton Pires.
The past week
Which had cleaner air over the past 6 days?
But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Lubango averaged AQI 46 against 51, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 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
- Calumbo0Lubango5
- Average AQI
- Calumbo51Lubango46
- Worst day, AQI
- Calumbo60Lubango52
The daily numbers (6 days)
| Day | Calumbo | Lubango |
|---|---|---|
| Nov 5 | 53 | 52 |
| Nov 6 | 60 | 51 |
| Nov 7 | 54 | 41 |
| Nov 8 | 53 | 50 |
| Nov 9 | 48 | 45 |
| Nov 10 | 39 | 39 |
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 Calumbo and Lubango today?
Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Both are in the same EPA band today (Moderate), so the advice is the same.
Exercise outdoors
Fine for most people; unusually sensitive people should take long or hard exercise easier.
Windows
Fine to open; close them if you are sensitive to pollution.
Masks
Not needed for most people.
Air purifier
Worth running if you are sensitive.
Against everywhere else
How do Calumbo and Lubango compare with the rest of the world?
Right now Calumbo's air is cleaner than 56% of the 5,420 places Airleaf tracks, and Lubango's is cleaner than 45%. Within Angola, that is 21% and 0% of its 35 measured places.
Cleaner air than…
- Calumbo
- Beats 56%
- Lubango
- Beats 45%
More tree cover than…
- Calumbo
- Beats 65%
- Lubango
- Beats 14%
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.
Deforestation · 2001–2025
Which has lost more forest, Calumbo or Lubango?
Calumbo has lost more: about 201 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 27 ha around Lubango. 124 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Measured within 10 km of each center, from the yearly satellite maps of forest loss: a wider circle than the one for tree cover, because forest is usually lost at a city's edges.
Worst year: 2003, with 30 ha lost.
Worst year: 2013, with 5 ha lost.
| Calumbo | Lubango | |
|---|---|---|
| Forest lost since 2001Cleared, burned or logged. | 201 ha | 27 ha (better) |
| Cleared for goodTurned into farms, mines or towns. | 124 ha | 17 ha (better) |
| Recent trend2021–2025 against the five years before. | Too little to call | Too little to call |
| Main known cause | Farms, pasture and plantations (61%) | Towns and roads (44%) |
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.
Calumbo
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Lubango
2017: satellite photo from August 2017 of a 5 × 5 km area in the city center.
Trees
Which has more trees, Calumbo or Lubango?
Calumbo has more tree cover: 28.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 6.8% around Lubango, or about 85,807 trees against 21,363.
The dark mark is each place's canopy target: 30% of the land, raised where air quality is poor.
| Calumbo | Lubango | |
|---|---|---|
| Trees standingEstimated from the canopy area. | 85.8K (better) | 21.4K |
| Trees still neededTo reach the target. Fewer is better. | 5.8K (better) | 72.9K |
| CO₂ absorbed each yearBy the trees already standing. | 1.9M kg (better) | 470K kg |
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
Calumbo vs Lubango: your questions answered
Is Calumbo cleaner than Lubango?
On air quality, yes, right now: Calumbo reads AQI 54 against 63, a gap of 9 points on the US EPA index. This is a live reading rather than an annual average, so it can reverse within a day. But over the past 6 days, on modeled daily averages, Lubango averaged AQI 46 against 51, and it was the cleaner of the two on 5 of those days.
Is it safe to exercise outdoors in Calumbo and Lubango today?
The advice is the same for both today. Unusually sensitive people should consider limiting long outdoor exertion. Calumbo reads AQI 54 and Lubango reads AQI 63.
Which has lost more forest, Calumbo or Lubango?
Calumbo has lost more: about 201 ha of forest within 10 km of its center from 2001 to 2025, against 27 ha around Lubango. 124 ha of that was cleared for good, for farms, mines or towns.
Which has more trees, Calumbo or Lubango?
Calumbo has more tree cover: 28.1% of the land within 2 km of its center against 6.8% around Lubango, or about 85,807 trees against 21,363. Both figures describe the same-sized circle of ground around each center, not the whole municipality.
How many more trees do Calumbo and Lubango need?
Calumbo needs about 5,802 more to reach its canopy target of 30%, and Lubango about 72,885 to reach 30%. The target starts at 30% of the land and rises where air quality is poor.
Are Calumbo and Lubango 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. Lubango is read from a nearby ground station and Calumbo is a model estimate, so the two are not quite like for like. Nothing is adjusted for population, city limits or climate.
How often does the Calumbo vs Lubango 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 1, 2026 and Oct 18, 2026), and the forest figures are published yearly.
Keep going
Compare them with somewhere else
Build your own
Compare Calumbo with somewhere else
This place
Calumbo