Dakar vs Kaolack
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.
Dakar has more tree cover — 4.9% against 2.1%.
Dakar has cleaner air right now — AQI 9 against 23.
- Tree cover gap
- 2.8 points
- Dakar is ahead.
- Air quality gap
- 14 AQI
- Dakar is cleaner.
- Trees between them
- 8.2K
- Dakar has more standing.
Tree cover
Share of the 2 km radius under canopy.
4.9%
2.1%
Air quality index
US EPA index, live, with its band. Lower is better.
9 · Good
23 · Good
Trees standing
Estimated from the measured canopy area.
14.8K
6.6K
Trees still needed
To reach the same canopy target. Fewer is better.
75.9K
87.7K
CO₂ absorbed each year
By the trees already standing.
326K kg
145K 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. Dakar is read from nearby ground stations and Kaolack is modelled — worth knowing, since the two are not quite like for like.
PM2.5
Fine particles, the pollutant that usually sets the index.
2.2 µg/m³
5.5 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 | Dakar | Kaolack |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Sept | 101 | 99 |
| 23 Sept | 115 | 69 |
| 24 Sept | 22 | 16 |
| 25 Sept | 23 | 22 |
| 26 Sept | 46 | 36 |
| 27 Sept | 37 | 26 |
| 28 Sept | 27 | 31 |
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. Dakar leads here at 4.9%.
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: Dakar reads 9 (good) and Kaolack reads 23 (good) right now.
Frequently asked
Dakar and Kaolack, answered
Which has more trees, Dakar or Kaolack?
Dakar, with roughly 14,824 trees inside its 2 km radius against 6,597. Tree cover tells a slightly different story from raw count: Dakar has the denser canopy at 4.9%.
Which has better air quality, Dakar or Kaolack?
Dakar right now, at AQI 9 against 23 — a gap of 14 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?
Dakar needs about 75,936 more to reach its canopy target, and Kaolack about 87,650. 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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